Freeport schools superintendent Fia Davis misled district, spent $100G to renovate office, suit says
The Freeport district has filed suit against schools Superintendent Fia Davis. Credit: John Roca
Freeport's schools superintendent misled the district about when she would earn her doctoral degree, spent $100,000 in district funds to renovate her office and build a private bathroom and had the district contract with a friend without disclosing their affiliation, according to a lawsuit filed Monday.
The district filed the lawsuit against Fia Davis in state Supreme Court in Nassau County, 10 months after board members placed Davis on leave with pay. Davis, of Mount Vernon, took charge of the large Nassau district in August 2024 after longtime superintendent Kishore Kuncham retired.
The suit seeks to recoup hundreds of thousands of dollars from Davis, including $262,000 of contractual pay, the $100,000 in renovation costs and a $20,000 payment to her friend’s company.
At a town hall Monday night, school board vice president Scott A. Richardson said, “This board has taken legal action to recoup — meaning to get every dime that the superintendent Fia Davis has been paid — back."
He repeated, "Every dime."
The district is also seeking to annul Davis' contract, which runs through June 2028.
Davis did not respond to multiple requests for comment Tuesday.
The district's lawyers, with the Garden City-based firm Jaspan Schlesinger Narendran, argued in the suit that when Davis applied for the superintendent job, her resume indicated she would receive her doctoral degree in educational administration from Fordham University in September 2024. Davis assured the board she would obtain it on time but did not receive the credential until May 2025, the suit alleges.
A doctoral degree in educational leadership was included among the list of required qualifications for a new superintendent, the suit says. The district would not have considered Davis for the position without her assurance, its lawyers wrote.
Davis' contract with the district also specifically noted the September 2024 deadline, which the superintendent acknowledged was “a material representation," the suit states.
The district’s lawyers argue that the contract was procured by “fraud” and should be voided.
Davis’ base salary for 2024-25 was $295,000.
The district also alleges the superintendent used more than $100,000 in district funds to renovate her office and build a private bathroom without board approval. The money was intended to purchase a vehicle for district-wide use, the suit says.
Davis also did not disclose her friendship with Dennis McKesey when she had the district enter into a contract with his company, the educational consultancy firm In Our Best Interest LLC, the suit alleges.
McKesey and his company submitted an invoice of $20,000 without supporting time sheets or specifying the types of services provided, according to the suit. McKesey declined to comment Tuesday.
The district’s attorneys argue it would not have contracted with McKesey’s company if officials had known of Davis’ affiliation and said the cost of McKesey’s services was “substantially” higher than similar services provided by other companies.
Before coming to Freeport in 2024, Davis had been superintendent of Bronx High School Districts 8, 10 and 11 in New York City public schools since 2022. She was also a deputy superintendent and a principal earlier in her career, according to her resume, which Newsday obtained through a Freedom of Information Law request.
Her resume said she improved graduation rates and reduced chronic absences in her prior positions.
The district has been run by Alice Kane, a retired Freeport assistant superintendent hired on an interim basis, since Davis' reassignment. The school board has faced criticism from residents who questioned the cost of paying for two superintendents.
Board president Sunday Coward declined to comment on the lawsuit Monday.
Dandan Zou covers education for Newsday. Previously, she worked for a community newspaper in Maryland and a personal finance magazine in Washington, D.C.
