A Manhasset theater teacher found guilty of inappropriate physical contact with a student and permitted to return to the classroom could get a harsher sentence after an acting Nassau County Supreme Court Judge said his penalty – a $12,500 fine and sensitivity training – was not enough to protect students.
“Here the respondent was found guilty of making unwanted and inappropriate physical contact with a student, and the penalty imposed is insufficient to overcome the strong public policy of protecting the welfare of children,” Acting Nassau Supreme Court Justice Catherine Rizzo wrote in the Aug. 15 decision. “Accordingly, it is reasonable to conclude that the hearing officer failed to appreciate the harm that the respondent’s behavior may have on a child, both presently and in the future.”
Rizzo ordered Aug. 15 that the state-appointed hearing officer’s ruling be reversed and the case against teacher Robbert Fessler be reconsidered by him for a new penalty.
Efforts to solicit comment from Fessler were unavailing.
Manhasset Board of Education President Ted Post wrote in a statement that the board has “acknowledged the court’s decision” but is unable to comment on “ongoing personnel matters.”
Fessler, 63, of Sea Cliff, was employed at the Manhasset School District for 18 years.
Hearing Officer Michael Capone ruled in July last year that Fessler was guilty of inappropriate and nonconsensual physical contact with a student.
Fessler’s punishment for this guilty verdict was a $7,500 fine, and he was permitted to return back to his teaching position in the school district.
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 an additional $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 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. It said this provided them “just cause for dismissal” in the petition.
A disciplinary hearing was then held for Fessler, which concluded in May last year.
“The respondent’s longevity of tenure as an educator, remorsefulness and restraint during the hearing are not sufficient to overcome the strong public policy of protecting the welfare of children,” Rizzo wrote in the Aug. 15 decision.
The Manhasset Board of Education filed a petition against the hearing officer’s decision last year in August.
The Board of Education called the hearing officer “prejudiced” in the petition and said he exceeded his power and failed to protect students.
The petition said former 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.”
The school district has argued for the courts to grant it the ability to terminate the tenured teacher.
Fessler has been on paid leave since the investigation was opened in 2023. In 2024, the school district paid Fessler $146,248, and another $161,520 in 2023, according to SeeThroughNY, a public payroll reporting site operated by nonprofit The Empire Center.
