Teacher arrested just before start date appears in court

WATERVLIET -- The former Watervliet High School teacher arrested just days before he was supposed to start work in a new district was in court Tuesday morning. Police charged Patrick Canniff with sending sexually explicit text messages to a 16-year-old Watervliet High School student -- including one of himself, in his underwear. Canniff, 31, had resigned from Watervliet to start a new job at Schalmont High School Sept. 1. He lost that job on Aug. 28 when the district learned of his arrest.