Principal Apologizes in Wake of Horse Accident

The principal at an elementary school where a horse bolted into a crowd on Friday, injuring 11, apologized to students and parents Monday for misleading them about whether he had allowed the horse on campus.

Robert Caplan, principal of Castlebay Lane Elementary School, had told news reporters he did not authorize the horse’s presence at the school’s outdoor Halloween party.

But the fifth-grade teacher who rode the horse, Randi Lieber, said that she had asked Caplan about it, and he had said it would be fine.

In a letter Caplan gave students to take home Monday, he wrote: “Mrs. Lieber did have my permission to bring a horse on campus. . . . Mrs. Lieber has done nothing wrong, and her job is not in jeopardy.”

The letter continued, “I am sorry for what discomfort this has brought upon our community, Mrs. Lieber, as well as the children in her class, and for the misleading statements that I have made.”

The horse bolted as a costume parade was ending, injuring a parent, nine children and the 18-year-old sister of a student.

Amanda Sanchez, 48, the mother of a Castlebay student, remained hospitalized in stable condition Monday with a concussion and facial cuts.

The teenager and two students were treated for minor injuries at local hospitals and released Friday.

The Los Angeles Unified School District is reviewing whether the school violated district policy, said Dan Isaacs, an assistant superintendent.

Caplan, a first-year principal at the school, did not return phone calls Monday.

The apology arrived hours after a tense meeting attended by nearly 100 parents at the school Monday morning. According to the school’s administration, the main topic of discussion was the campus’s crisis intervention procedures.

But furious parents at the meeting wanted to talk about who to hold responsible.

“Everyone talked about the fact that Mr. Caplan had lied. We all went crazy,” said Luanne Gold, a parent who attended the meeting. “It’s a bad example for our children.”