Suspended Mineola school Superintendent Michael Nagler resigns

The Mineola school board Thursday accepted the resignation of Superintendent Michael Nagler, who had been suspended for nearly a month after officials accused the longtime educator of violating the district’s ethics code and his employment contract following the failed rollout of a new digital system used in the district's high school.

Nagler's future in the district has been uncertain after an outside investigator concluded that the superintendent's investment in a private company he co-founded with his son violated the district’s ethics code, which forbids employees from holding any investment in a financial business that creates a conflict with their duties. 

During Thursday's school board meeting, district trustees unanimously accepted Nagler's resignation for retirement purposes, effective Feb. 5. His employment agreement with the district would have run through July 2027.

The board also appointed Catherine Fishman, the deputy superintendent under Nagler, to serve as acting superintendent. Fishman has served as acting superintendent since the board suspended Nagler on Jan. 8. His suspension was extended two weeks later.

"Dr. Nagler and the Board of Education have amicably resolved our differences," Richard Zuckerman, an attorney for the board, told Newsday in a statement. "We thank Dr. Nagler for his service to the district."

The resignation agreement calls for Nagler to be paid nearly $512,000, Zuckerman told parents. That figure includes Nagler's salary through the end of the current school year — a prorated amount of $181,576 — along with more than $173,000 in unused sick leave and more than $149,000 in accrued unused vacation time, Zuckerman said.

Nagler had worked in the Mineola district since 1999 and served as its superintendent since 2009. 

Messages left Thursday night with Nagler and his attorney, Jacinda Conboy, general counsel for the New York State Council of School Superintendents, were not immediately returned.

District parents, speaking during the meeting, called Nagler's departure "a time of mixed emotions," while calling for the employment of a professional search firm to find the next permanent superintendent.

"We haven't done this in 17 years, so this will be a process," school board president Cheryl Lampasona said. "We are not going to rush this process."

Nagler had been under investigation since October after parents complained about a new program known as "Build Your Own Grade," which was used for eighth graders at the beginning of the current school year.

The program was supported by a learning management system developed by Quave, a company Nagler created with his son, James Nagler, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology student. The investigation found that no written notice was provided to the board of its forming and Nagler did not notify the board of Quave before last September.

The investigator, Nathaniel Nichols, said Nagler also violated his employment contract, which states he is to keep the board advised of the administration of the district and provide written notice to the board if he were to engage in other education-related activities.

The investigator said Nagler formed Quave with his son without the board’s authorization and at his own expense of about $10,000.

Nagler, who was among 16 witnesses the investigator interviewed, said he formed Quave to obtain a tax write-off and shield his son from liability, according to Nichols' report. Nagler had previously said he would be willing to sell or gift the IP to the district since the learning management system was not a "money-maker," the report said.

No district funds were expended for the development of the learning management system that Nagler built. Nichols concluded: "Although no financial gain was to be had at present, the interest is no less present."

Zuckerman said Nagler has told the district in writing that all of the student data and work done by Mineola staff that he and his son worked on "has been destroyed and cannot be retrieved."