I am a Cleveland Elementary parent. My heart goes out to Mr. Howe's coworkers in the building, as well as his family. I am sure that the principal was following instructions from the administrators at the Board of Education for something of this magnitude. It's called "chain of command". I appreciate the office trying to notify me before I turned on the evening news or received a phone call from a neighbor (or, heaven forbid - the automated phone message system the school uses). There are over 500 children in the school; taping was the quickest way, I'm sure, to make sure the letters went home today. I can't imagine even having to stuff that many envelopes, much less sealing them the traditional way. I hope that parents will take a deep breath and think things through before spreading anymore "trash talk" about the school.