The Manhasset Board of Education is fighting back against a state-appointed hearing officer’s decision to return tenured teacher Robbert Fessler to the classroom, who was found guilty of inappropriate physical contact with a student, according to court documents.
“In the present case, Hearing Officer [MIchael] Capone clearly did not give the ‘highest priority’ to the welfare of the District’s students when he determined that the imposition of a fine was a satisfactory penalty for [Fessler’s] violent outburst against [a student] grabbing her from behind and pulling her into his groin area,” the district wrote in their petition.
Capone decided on July 29 that Fessler could return to teaching in the district while also finding him guilty of inappropriate and nonconsensual physical contact with a student.
Fessler’s punishment for this guilty verdict was a $7,500 fine.
Fessler was also found guilty of other misconduct, such as not wearing a mask when it was state-mandated, failing to complete assigned work tasks and traveling during work hours. The punishments for these amounted to a written reprimand and a $5,000 fine.
The hearing officer also ordered the district to provide Fessler with sensitivity training, including avoiding inappropriate contact with students, at the district’s expense.
The board filed a petition against the hearing officer’s decision on Aug. 8. They asked that the court terminate Fessler’s employment, according to the petition.
The board called the hearing officer “prejudiced” in the petition and said he exceeded his power. The district said “the decision was arbitrary, capricious and irrational,” according to the petition.
The board of education argued that the hearing officer’s decision fails to protect students, making his decision an exceeding of his power.
Efforts to solicit comment from the Manhasset School District and Fessler were unavailing.
The district employed Fessler for 18 years.
The district began investigating Fessler in January 2023 after a high school student reported to an administrator that Fessler “gets away with a lot of things,” according to the petition.
The board said the investigation found Fessler “engaged in inappropriate conduct towards students” and that he inappropriately touched a student during the fall 2021 school play.
During the fall play, the district said Fessler pulled the student from behind, bringing her buttocks to his groin and moving her side to side against himself.
Fessler also brought his face close to the student’s arm and either kissed it or imitated a kiss multiple times. He also placed his face on or near her neck and shoulders, according to court documents.
Other actions alleged in the district’s investigation included Fessler making inappropriate comments regarding two female students’ bodies, having students perform on an unsafe platform, assigning students non-age-appropriate assignments and improperly storing a realistic prop gun.
Fessler was assigned to work from home after the investigation’s findings. The district said he was given multiple assignments yet failed to complete them in a “timely manner” and flew to Florida during work hours and without authorization by the district.
The district formally charged Fessler on June 6, 2023, about five months after the investigation began, with multiple misconduct charges under the education law. They said this provided them “just cause for dismissal” in the petition.
A disciplinary hearing was then held for Fessler, which concluded on May 31.
The board of education said the hearing officer permitted evidence to be submitted by Fessler showing a collection of emails in his support and opinions about the district’s investigation. The board said the hearing officer did not permit the district to provide testimony in response to this evidence.
The petition said Manhasset Superintendent Gaurav Passi testified he was “uncomfortable assigning [Fessler] to any duties in the future which would bring him into contact with students, and recommended that [Fessler] be terminated from his employment with the
District.”
