Amagansett School principal Maria Dorr, accused of taking missing gift card, found not guilty, hearing officer rules

The suspended principal of the Amagansett School — who had faced disciplinary charges alleging she stole a gift card from a co-worker — was found not guilty, according to a decision issued Thursday by a state-designated hearing officer.

Timothy Taylor, who heard testimony from 15 witnesses over the course of seven hearings spanning months last year, sided with Maria Dorr, who was accused of taking the $25 Amazon card after it went missing in December 2023.

In his decision, Taylor ruled that Dorr be “immediately reinstated” as the school principal and required the district to expunge the disciplinary charges from her personnel files.

“The District shall make Dorr whole in all pertinent ways,” his ruling stated. 

Wayne Gauger, the Amagansett school board president, said in a statement that the board accepts Taylor’s determination and believes “it is time to put this matter behind us.” Without naming Dorr, the statement said the principal was expected to return to her position in the coming days.

Dorr’s attorney, Arthur Scheuermann, said "justice was served in this case."

“She feels the weight of the world has been off her shoulders,” Scheuermann said Thursday.

The alleged theft has rocked the small community of Amagansett, where the one-building school district houses 120 students in prekindergarten through sixth grade. 

Dorr was never criminally charged and Christina McElroy, the part-time occupational therapist for whom the card was intended, filed a police report but later told the investigating officer that she wanted the case closed.

Security camera footage

Amagansett district officials had sought to fire Dorr, who became principal in 2015 and had no prior disciplinary history, after a gift card intended for McElroy went missing from the school mailroom on Dec. 15, 2023.

Dorr, who earned $215,764 in 2023-24, was suspended with pay in January 2024. Administrative charges were filed against her the following month.

District attorneys, relying heavily on security camera footage, pointed during the disciplinary hearings to video that showed Dorr leaving the mailroom with a red envelope 13 minutes after front desk receptionist Cassie Butts left the room. Butts has said she put a red envelope, with the gift card inside, in McElroy’s mailbox.

Richard Loeschner, then the district's interim superintendent, conducted the investigation into the matter. He testified that he found the principal’s behavior following the missing card to be “odd.”

Loeschner said during the hearing that Dorr did not report the incident to him, and allegedly told Butts to not get attorneys and others involved. Dorr was accused of providing Loeschner with "false and/or misleading information" during the investigation; Taylor cleared her of the charge.

Taylor wrote Dorr's conduct was “insufficient” to link her to the missing card or to confirm that she tried to hinder the investigation. Dorr had testified that she thought the card would turn up.

Investigation questioned

Dorr’s attorneys during the hearings had called Loeschner’s investigation “shoddy” and  attacked the credibility of Butts, who was the last person seen on camera with the card in question.

Taylor agreed, writing he found Butts not credible.

The arbitrator wrote that Butts did not explain how she came to know McElroy’s envelope was missing nearly two hours before McElroy discovered that fact herself. Taylor also noted Butts, who retired in February, “quickly spread rumors” that Dorr had taken the card, even though no investigation had yet taken place.

Butts could not immediately be reached for comment. She had testified during the hearings that she had no incentive to lie.

Taylor wrote in his opinion that Loeschner “failed to conduct a full and fair investigation.”

Loeschner zeroed in on the wrong red envelope by focusing on the envelope Dorr took out of the mailroom instead of the one intended for McElroy, Taylor wrote.

The arbitrator also raised concern that Loeschner learned about the missing card after Michael Rodgers, then co-president of the Amagansett Teachers Association, handed him a piece of paper with time stamps of the security camera footage that showed Butts leaving the mailroom and Dorr entering it, even though Rodgers had no permission to view the footage. Rodgers has since become the district's superintendent.

“The ATA plays no role in the Superintendent’s investigation, yet Loeschner was in constant contact and ongoing communication with the ATA throughout his investigation,” Taylor wrote.

Loeschner said Thursday that he disagreed with the outcome but respected Taylor’s decision.

“I hope things go well from this point forward,” he said. “I love the community. I love the people there and the kids are fabulous, as well as the families. And I hope the best for everyone.” 

Rodgers could not be reached for comment.

Taylor also noted that there were no security cameras in the mailroom, writing that the lack of surveillance led to “mere speculation about the events that transpired within it.”

“However, speculation alone cannot establish guilt” under the education law, Taylor wrote.

The hearing officer also noted that Dorr presumably knew where the cameras were in the school and had "ample time" to hide the envelope while in the mailroom to avoid being seen with it.

He concluded, “I’m not persuaded that Dorr engaged in the conduct of which she is accused, and I find that the District did not meet its burden of proving that Dorr engaged in acts constituting misconduct.”

Legal bills from Ingerman Smith for the case added up to more than $85,000 as of the end of December, according to invoices Newsday obtained through an open records request.

Taylor in his ruling denied Dorr’s request to be reimbursed for expenses she and her attorneys incurred. Although he found Loeschner’s investigation to be flawed, Taylor disagreed with her attorneys' argument that the charges were "frivolous.” 

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.