Manhasset schools spent nearly $1M trying to fire teacher for 'inappropriate' student contact

The Manhasset school district’s yearslong attempt to fire a tenured theater teacher ended this summer as the total cost of the case neared $1 million, records show.

Teacher Robbert Fessler’s retirement in June ended the conflict more than three years after the district tried to fire him over "inappropriate physical contact" with a student. The contact happened during rehearsal of "Hamlet."

The case illustrates how time consuming and expensive it can be for a school district to terminate the employment of a tenured educator under state law.

District records show the Manhasset district paid Fessler $539,000 in salary as he spent the first 2½ years on paid leave before the district required him a year ago to report to the administration building to work on curriculum.

Meanwhile, the district compiled more than $250,000 in legal costs as school officials took the unusual step of bringing the case to Nassau Supreme Court to overturn an arbitrator’s decision that said he only deserved a $12,500 fine and sensitivity training.

It’s not known how much the district paid his replacement high school theater teachers while Fessler was kept out of the classroom.

Fessler, 64, of Sea Cliff, made no mention of his ongoing legal battle with the district in his retirement notice, writing only that he retired to "take advantage" of a one-time teachers’ union retirement incentive that locked in his costs for district health care insurance coverage at 24%.

Newsday obtained his payroll records, retirement notice and the school’s legal bills from the district via a public records request under the state’s Freedom of Information Law.

Fessler did not return messages seeking comment.

In a statement, the Manhasset Board of Education said state education law drives the legal expenses in cases like Fessler’s and the school district handles such cases "thoughtfully and carefully."

"At every stage, the District's priority is to act in the best interests of students and the community while maintaining fairness, due process, and responsible management of public resources," the statement said.

Public school districts must follow a disciplinary process for tenured staff commonly referred to as "3020-a," its section title in state law, during which a state-appointed arbitrator serves as judge and jury. The arbitrator listens to testimony and reviews evidence before deciding whether the school district proved its case and, if so, what the appropriate penalty should be.

The case revolved around Fessler’s physical demonstration of how an actor should kiss the arm of his female counterpart and pull on her waist during one of the final rehearsals before the high school performance of Hamlet in the fall of 2021.

The state-appointed hearing officer, Michael Capone, rejected the district’s case for firing because "there is ample evidence that in the non-traditional instruction of acting and performing, demonstrating through physical contact is sometimes required."

Capone instead called for a $12,500 fine and sensitivity training because he said Fessler "cannot take the same liberties with student actors as he would with adults."

But acting Nassau Supreme Court Justice Catherine Rizzo threw out that decision last year, saying Capone "failed to appreciate the harm that the respondent’s behavior may have on a child, both presently and in the future."

She called for Capone to issue a new, harsher penalty, a ruling that Fessler appealed. Fessler told Newsday then: "I have no doubt that any reasonable person reviewing the case will concur with the arbitrator’s decision and that we will win the appeal."

Fessler withdrew the appeal last month after his retirement.

By Jim Baumbach

jim.baumbach@newsday.com

Jim Baumbach is an award-winning investigative reporter at Newsday, where he has worked since 1998. He spent two decades in the sports department, where he covered every professional team and league, including events such as the Super Bowl and World Series.