BALDWINSVILLE, N.Y. — An upstate New York school district is investigating a fourth-grader's claim that his Red Sox-fan teacher made him hide his Yankees T-shirt from view.

Nathan Johns, a student at Van Buren Elementary School in Baldwinsville, said he wasn't sure what to think at first when his teacher told him to go to the bathroom and turn his Yankees shirt inside out. He said he complied and was later told to wear it that way until dismissal.

"I thought to myself, 'Is he serious or is he kidding?' " the boy said. "But he had this look like he wasn't kidding at all."

He said his teacher, Peter Addabbo, keeps Red Sox paraphernalia on display all over the classroom.

Baldwinsville Schools Superintendent Jeanne Dangle said Friday that the district is conducting an investigation, which will include interviewing other children who were present in the class, and has told the boy's parents she will get back to them on the issue in a few days.

"From a district perspective, we would never support something like that," Dangle said. "But we don't have all the facts yet."

A call to a number listed for a Peter Addabbo in the nearby town of Memphis was not returned Friday.

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Information from The Post-Standard of Syracuse: www.syracuse.com