Principal sorry for copying excerpt Deutsche apologizes, but not sure incident rises to level of plagiarism. Friday, November 16, 2007 • By ANDREA EILENBERGER • The Express-Times PHILLIPSBURG | Phillipsburg High School Principal Mary Jane Deutsch said she was only trying to share information with parents by copying an excerpt of a Texas therapist's writing in a newsletter, not take credit for his work. Deutsch, who did not cite the author in her column, apologized Thursday for the mistake she said was completely inadvertent. "I think I made an error in judgment," Deutsch said. She plans to confront the issue and address it with the school in what she called an honest and succinct way. She also wants to try and find a positive side in the situation by talking about responsible writing and proper attribution. Deutsch's section of October's issue of The Messenger entitled "A Message From The Principal" includes six paragraphs taken nearly verbatim from an excerpt of "Modesty: A lost virtue?" written by Jeffrey Murrah. She said she came across the piece on the Internet and wanted to share the "great information" with parents. Failing to properly cite Murrah in the newsletter was a careless oversight, and she won't make a similar mistake again, she said. While she accepts responsibility for that, she said she's "really not sure" if it falls under the category of plagiarism, stressing she wasn't trying to take credit for the work. "I'm certainly not denying it could be (plagiarism)," she said. She said she had a phone conversation with Murrah on Thursday and the two are on good terms. Superintendent Gordon Pethick said he planned to speak with Deutsch today. "We'll take a look," Pethick said. "I need to get some information on the matter, and that's where we're going." Deutsch said as a school administrator, she recognizes that she should be held to a higher standard and, at the very minimum, to the same standards as students. The Phillipsburg High School Stateliners' student handbook describes plagiarism as "copying another's work and submitting it as your own." Steve Zarbatany, school board member and chair of the board's policy committee, doesn't know of any board policies pertaining to plagiarism amongst teachers or administrators. He said he looked through his files Thursday night but did not identify policies that relate to the situation. As far as he knows, the board has never dealt with a situation like this before. "(Deutsch) is an honorable person," Zarbatany said. He said he thinks she will "do the right thing" and realize she probably should have credited Murrah for the work. Reporter Andrea Eilenberger can be reached at 610-258-7171 or by e-mail at aeilenberger@express-times.com.