Karen Heitner disciplinary hearing: Staffers say Pasadena Elementary principal humiliated, targeted employees

A Plainview-Old Bethpage elementary school principal created a toxic workplace environment, leaving some employees feeling humiliated or harassed, according to testimony from about half a dozen staffers in the school chief's ongoing disciplinary hearing. 

The district had called the employees to testify in recent weeks against Karen Heitner, principal of Pasadena Elementary School in Plainview.

Heitner has been accused by the district of sexual harassment for allegedly touching two staffers inappropriately during a PTA luncheon, as well as age discrimination and creating a hostile and unsafe work environment. She was suspended last August and could lose her job if a state-appointed hearing officer sides with the district.

The principal's attorneys have sought to dismiss the allegations, arguing they were made by "disgruntled" employees who did not want to be held accountable for their poor work performance. They have also questioned the staffers' credibility and whether some of their client's alleged behavior rose to the level of misconduct.

But in testimony over the course of several recent hearings, employees painted a picture of a principal who they said targeted staffers and made their work life miserable. Some said they feared getting on the wrong side of her or that her alleged inappropriate behavior left them feeling anxious.

“I was crying all the time,” Chanda Napoli, a computer technology aide at Pasadena, testified Thursday. “I just felt terrible every day.”

The district wrapped up its case Thursday after 10 hearings involving 11 witnesses. Heitner's defense is expected to make its case when the hearing resumes Aug. 12.

Afraid to speak up

Napoli, one of the district's last witnesses, began working as a computer technology aide at Pasadena during the 2023-24 school year. She testified that in the fall of 2023, Heitner directed her to go onto the roof of the school to photograph students forming the shape of a ribbon to raise awareness of breast cancer.

Christopher Mestecky, the district’s attorney, showed a ladder mounted to the wall that Napoli said she had to climb up to get through a hatch before reaching the roof. Once on it, Napoli said she stood on an unsecured 8-foot-tall ladder for about five to seven minutes to take photos.

Heitner went on the roof with her.

Napoli said she was too afraid to tell the principal she was uncomfortable with the task and had to climb down from the roof on her hands and knees. When asked by Arthur Scheuermann, one of Heitner’s three attorneys, how Heitner could have known she was uncomfortable, Napoli said, “It’s her job to know I shouldn’t be on the roof."

Scheuermann called attention to one of Napoli’s evaluations, which rated her work as “satisfactory,” and a supervisor describing her performance in her first year at Pasadena as acceptable. Scheuermann also noted she was absent for 20 days out of a 180-day school year in 2022-23.

Napoli said she had asked and received training for the tech aide job. She testified that Heitner was highly critical of her.

"I was doing the job but it’s the way I was being treated," she said. “I felt insulted every time.”

'It was humiliating'

Joseph LeRea, a teacher who predominantly received "highly effective" performance reviews, testified that Heitner “poorly” handled a complaint that a student’s parent filed against him.

The complaint was deemed unfounded, but LeRea said Heitner interviewed students in the hallway near his classroom while he was teaching.

The district's assistant superintendent for human resources and safety, Christopher Donarummo, investigated the allegations against Heitner. He previously testified that such interviews should be held in a private space, like a principal’s office, to maintain confidentiality.

“Kids were paraded in and out of my room,” LeRea said. “It was humiliating.”

LeRea, a veteran educator who taught 18 years in a Bronx school before coming to Pasadena nine years ago, said what happened affected his self-esteem and how he saw himself as a teacher, which he considered his calling in life. 

The last witness to testify for the district was Peter Ravo, a teacher who resigned in 2023 after Heitner did not recommend him for tenure. Jeremy Scileppi, Heitner’s attorney, noted that Ravo did not receive tenure in any of the three school districts where he worked. Ravo testified he’s currently unemployed.

Ravo testified that he received a counselling memo from Heitner in 2022 after a June incident in which the teacher declined to call a parent after Heitner “strongly” suggested he do so.

Ravo said a boy was accused of throwing a beach ball at a girl in his class. The boy’s mother called the school after the girl’s father showed up at their door, Ravo said.

Ravo said he felt uncomfortable calling the boy’s mother without a witness. Ravo and Heitner called the parent together the following day in school.

The district has charged Heitner with repeatedly contacting Ravo after work hours, including times when Heitner and her secretary reached out to him during the summer to return a letter with directives.

The district said Heitner should not have contacted employees during off hours but her attorneys argued that unusual cases — like a parent showing up at another family’s home — could warrant such communication.

Friend testifies

The district also called Eric Nezowitz, the Roosevelt school district’s assistant superintendent for human resources and professional development, to testify.

Nezowitz addressed the claim that Heitner, who is his longtime friend, inappropriately touched two staffers during a PTA luncheon in June 2024. He testified that Heitner told him last August that she had jokingly or playfully pinched the buttocks of an employee. She said she regretted it and meant no harm, Nezowitz recounted.

Nezowitz was also asked to weigh in on an allegation that Heitner had tried to set him up on dates with a Pasadena teacher, Nicole Seidler.

Seidler had testified that she informed the principal of her divorce and subsequent name change, but did not tell Heitner that she was on the lookout for dates. She spoke to her work friends about dates but not with Heitner, she said.

“She’s not my friend. She’s my boss,” Seidler said. “I don’t have any type of relationship with her, except for a professional one.”

Nezowitz testified he considered it inappropriate for a supervisor to arrange dates for a subordinate.

Overall, Nezowitz spoke highly of Heitner, calling her an honest and gentle person. He said he might be a mentor to Heitner but she was a better principal than he ever was. 

By Dandan Zou

dandan.zou@newsday.com@DandanZou

Dandan Zou covers education for Newsday. Previously, she worked for a community newspaper in Maryland and a personal finance magazine in Washington, D.C.