Manhasset school board approves separation agreement with Superintendent Vincent Butera

The Manhasset school board approved a separation agreement Monday with Superintendent Vincent Butera, who was placed on paid administrative leave nine months ago following a sexual harassment investigation.

The board also voted unanimously at the meeting to accept Butera’s resignation, which will take effect July 11. Under the agreement, Butera, 50, will continue to receive his full annual pay — $286,844 — until his contract ends in June 2023.

After July, the district will stop paying for his benefits, according to the agreement. Butera will receive biweekly salary payments for 2022-23, though the amount would be subject to mitigation if he obtains employment.

During the 7-minute-long meeting, school board president Pat Aitken read from a prepared statement to say that the personnel matter remained confidential, in part, to protect the privacy of those involved.

"Dr. Butera took a voluntary leave in May 2021 with the expectation that he would return, and the hope that his absence would quell the crisis and restore a semblance of normalcy," she said. "With the passage of time, both Dr. Butera and the District have mutually agreed that it is now best to put this chapter behind us."

Butera did not attend the meeting but issued a statement through his spokesperson, Jamie Moss of newsPRos.

"I am so grateful for the outpouring of support from so many in the community over these past unfortunate months," he wrote. "You will never know how much your kindness and support meant during this difficult time for me and for my family."

Butera also said he’s "pleased that as a result of what the Board learned during the investigation process, it made necessary and recommended revisions to the District’s harassment policy for the benefit of all."

The district’s sexual harassment policy was updated in August, but school officials declined to say what was changed.

Butera, superintendent of the 3,000-student district since 2017, was accused by a former subordinate of unsolicited hugs, too-frequent visits to her classroom, and other unwanted attention. He was found to have violated the district’s sexual harassment policy after an investigation that concluded in November 2020.

Newsday requested a copy of the investigation’s report through a Freedom of Information Law request, but the district has declined to release it. Newsday filed litigation last month over access to the report and other records.

The school board, in 2021, appointed the district's assistant superintendent of curriculum, Gaurav Passi, to be the acting superintendent, and a former Garden City schools administrator to fill in for Passi.

The Butera investigation, which was leaked to and first reported by The Manhasset Press, and the board’s initial decision to keep him in charge led to student walkouts and teacher protests demanding his removal last May. In the months that followed when Butera remained on leave, those in support of him repeatedly asked officials to reinstate him during board meetings.

Board members have said little publicly other than that they were not in a position to comment.

"The inability of the Board to comment on these confidential matters and the notoriety created by the [Manhasset Press] article resulted in a very heated reaction in the school community," Aitken read from the statement. "Regrettably, some of that reaction was based on speculation rather than fact, and certain statements made by some individuals in the public domain regarding Dr. Butera’s reputation and character were uninformed."

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly characterized what was leaked to the local press.