Amityville school board member rescinds resignation, returns to board
An Amityville Board of Education member who stepped down last month is back on the board after rescinding his resignation, district officials confirmed Friday.
David Heller had resigned June 15 and rescinded his resignation July 7, according to a statement sent Friday from board president Lisa Johnson.
Comments Heller made at a February board meeting, where he cited what he said were Spanish-speaking students' difficulties understanding school curriculum as a reason for low test scores overall, led an Amityville woman to file a complaint with the school district. Heller has been cleared, according to a letter sent from the law firm that investigated the complaint.
Friday, he said that the complaint had nothing to do with his stepping down from the board and he had initially resigned to take care of a personal matter but was able to rejoin the board in July.
"I've lived in Amityville all of my life, attended the schools and am very much involved in all of the sports programs and I am never going to make any type of discriminatory remark about any of the children," he said. "The report was totally unfounded and we were cleared."
The complaint had accused Heller of violating the state Dignity for All Students Act, signed into law in 2010 and designed to protect students from bullying, discrimination or harassment. The complaint referenced another member of the board, Juan Leon.
"After investigating the matter, I find that although some of the statements made by Mr. Heller may have been insensitive and offensive to some of the people attending the meeting, there is insufficient evidence to conclude that they rise to the level of discrimination. Accordingly, there is insufficient evidence to conclude that Mr. Heller and Mr. Leon violated either District policy, including the DASA policy or applicable law," read a July 14 letter from the Glen Cove law office of Joady Benjamin Feiner.
Heller had been appointed an Amityville schools trustee in 2020. He was then elected to the volunteer position in 2021 and elected to a full three-year term in 2022. He said he also served on the board in 1985 when his children were in school.
The district declined to comment further, but in a statement Johnson said "The Board looks forward to serving the community and its students into the 23-24 school year."
With Jim Baumbach
Joie Tyrrell is a Long Island native and covers education for Newsday, where she has worked since 1998.
