Manhasset school board asks judge to overturn decision that spares teacher from dismissal
Judge asked to overturn a decision to let a tenured teacher return to the classroom after he was found guilty of “inappropriate physical contact” with a student. Credit: Howard Schnapp
The Manhasset Board of Education asked a Nassau judge to overturn a state-appointed hearing officer’s decision to return to the classroom a tenured theater teacher found guilty of “inappropriate physical contact” with a student during a play rehearsal.
The hearing officer’s determination to issue high school teacher Robbert Fessler a $12,500 fine instead of granting the district’s request to terminate his employment “fails to protect students from future harm,” according to Manhasset’s petition filed Thursday in state Supreme Court.
In court papers, Manhasset said the hearing officer “gave little to no consideration to the district’s recommendation of termination” after finding Fessler guilty of misconduct of making “inappropriate physical contact” with a student, not wearing a mask when it was mandated and failing to follow a supervisor’s directives.
Fessler also was found guilty of traveling to Florida in February 2023 during work hours without notifying his supervisor. He has been on paid leave since the district opened an investigation in January 2023. State records show Fessler, 62, of Sea Cliff, made $161,519 in 2022-23, the most recent school year for which teacher salary data is available.
The Manhasset district declined to comment, citing the case as a confidential personnel matter.
The district asked the court for the right to fire Fessler or allow for a new disciplinary hearing — a highly unusual move. Newsday’s investigation into teacher discipline, published in 2023, found that no Long Island district had gone to court in the past decade seeking a judge to overturn a hearing officer’s decision.
Fessler said in a statement Friday that the hearing officer found that the district did not meet the burden of proof to fire him. He said the district is “trying to infuse this case with the whiff of sexual impropriety — perhaps because I am the only out gay teacher who advocates for all underrepresented students.”
To dismiss a tenured educator, public school districts follow a process known as “3020-a,” its section title in state law. A state-appointed hearing officer decides whether the school proved its case and if so, what the appropriate penalty should be.
The hearing officer, Michael Capone, determined, following a nine-month hearing process that concluded in March, that Fessler was guilty of “inappropriate physical contact” with a female student during a rehearsal for a high school performance of "Hamlet" during the fall of 2021, according to Capone’s 52-page report.
Capone declined to comment on Friday.
On one occasion, Fessler “grabbed the student’s arm, and . . . repeatedly simulated kissing the student’s arm, progressively moving up towards the student’s neck as he did so,” Capone wrote in his decision, adding that Fessler did so to portray the actor’s scene.
“Certainly, in a classic or traditional classroom setting, any physical contact would be prohibited except to protect the safety of a child,” Capone wrote. “However, there is ample evidence that in the non-traditional instruction of acting and performing, demonstrating through physical contact is sometimes required.”
In another incident, Fessler acknowledged “he put his hands on [a female student’s] waist and pulled her into him,” also to mimic an actor’s scene. Fessler acknowledged he did not seek the student’s permission.
“Such conduct is improper and exceeds the permissible contact between a teacher and a student irrespective of the instructional setting,” Capone wrote, adding that Fessler “cannot take the same liberties with student actors as he would with adults.”
But Capone found that Fessler’s misconduct did not rise to the level of termination, instead warranting a monetary fine, because he said a theater director’s role is different from that of a classroom teacher. Capone said Fessler’s actions intended “to ensure his students understood his interpretation of the play and the actions the characters were expected to portray.”
Fessler said in an email that he was demonstrating “a stage direction to a student actress with over 30 people there.”
The district argued in its petition that “Capone gave no priority to the welfare of children when he imposed a fine,” characterized Fessler’s actions as “abhorrent” and a “disturbing and violent outburst” similar to two previous incidents.
Capone credited multiple emails and correspondence from parents and students in the hearing that reflected favorably on Fessler; the district said in the court filing Thursday that it did not have the opportunity to rebut those letters.
Fessler believed the district sought his termination in retaliation for a 2022 sexual harassment complaint he filed against his supervisor regarding his role as the students’ Gay-Straight Alliance faculty adviser, Capone wrote.
Capone's decision to not terminate Fessler is consistent with “a long line” of previous teacher disciplinary cases, Capone added.
“A lesser penalty is appropriate,” he wrote.
Fessler also said Friday that he had gone to Florida to be with his 93-year-old mother on her birthday and had contacted his department secretary about his trip.
