The Mineola School Board suspended Superintendent Michael Nagler on Thursday, Sept. 7, after an investigation found him to be in violation of the district’s code of ethics and his employment contract.
Board members voted that Nagler will be suspended with pay through its next meeting on Jan. 22, pending further review by the board.
Nagler declined comment, saying that he had just heard the findings for the first time and needed time to digest the information. Nagler did not answer whether he would resign from his position.
Nagler has been under investigation since October after parents complained about a learning management system used for eighth graders at the beginning of the school year.
The Build Your Own Grade program placed eighth-grade students into a digital curriculum, in which they were tasked with video responses and online classes on tablets. Under the program, student grades started at zero, and by the completion of learning tasks, their grades increased incrementally. Instructor involvement in the learning process was limited under the program.
The platform was developed by Quave, a private company formed last July by Nagler and his son, James Nagler, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology student.
Whiteman, Osterman & Hanna LLP, a law firm hired by the district to conduct the investigation, found that Nagler violated Mineola’s code of ethics due to his investment in Quave LLC, the company responsible for the Build Your Own Grade program, and his failure to provide notice to the board regarding the LLC.
His breach of the employment contract was determined due to his failure to keep the board informed of all matters concerning the district’s administration, as well as his failure to provide written notice to the board of any activities relevant to education.
The investigation concluded that the board was not aware of any relevant actions taken by Nagler.
“It never, ever, crossed my mind to ask our superintendent if volunteer service that his son was performing was going to be turned into a limited liability company with the intent of monetizing it,” Trustee Patrick Talty said. “I never thought of that. I never asked that question.”
“I would think he [Nagler] should step down, because it’s not fair to the students what he did to us and everybody else,” Madeline Fiorillo, an eighth-grader who experienced Build Your Own Grade.
Build Your Own Grade was terminated in October.
Nagler told the board that his reason for forming Quave was to obtain a tax write-off, according to the investigation.
Students had reported stress and confusion due to the program, leading to community outrage and the circulation of a petition imploring district administration to remove the program.
“The district lies, cheats in my opinion,” said Destinee Fiorillo, parent of students in the eighth and tenth grades. “This is just a drop in the bucket of the hassle and struggle for our entire time in the school district.
Nathaniel Nichols, an attorney with Whiteman, Osterman, said the investigation consisted of policy reviews and interviews with Nagler and 15 witnesses, including representatives from the Board of Education and the district administration.
Nichols said the investigation found that the district evaluated four learning management systems that offer products applicable to creating a competency-based learning management system.
He said the district was unable to find such a learning product at four companies – Eduvate, Canvas, Century Tech, and Empower. He said Canvas offered a product at a price of $100,000 for a potential product, which the district found to be prohibitively expensive.
Nichols said that allegations of improper procurement are not included in their findings.
“Based on the fact that there was no expenditure of district funds, we did not believe that the procurement policy was triggered,” Nichols said.
Schneps Media LI found the district lacked any data privacy agreement with Quave, the company behind the learning program.
“The data privacy issues are such that we are not able to make findings in relation to those matters, simply because of the fact that we were not able to review the data that was contained within the [learning management system],” Nichols said. “We believe that it was more appropriate for the regulatory agencies that have been notified of the situation to continue their review of that.
He said that in Jan. of 2025, Nagler told the board that his son would create the learning management system on a volunteer basis. The district had previously used volunteers to implement programs and was familiar with James Nagler’s skillset, according to Nichols.
He said that at that time, Nagler did not disclose the registration of the Build Your Own Grade website, and did not indicate that James Nagler was acting externally.
Nichols said that the board indicated that Nagler could proceed in developing the system and pairing it with the development of a new curriculum. He added that the board was shown versions of the test system over the next few months and felt comfortable with Nagler’s stated plan, allowing him to proceed based on their knowledge at the time.
Nichols said that in the spring of 2025, members of the board raised concerns about the ownership of the learning management system, James Nagler’s involvement and the lack of a privacy agreement presented by Nagler or to either of the Naglers by the board.
Quave was founded and owned by Nagler, along with his son James, 19 at the time. Nichols said Quave was formed at Nagler’s expense, utilizing a private attorney, without authorization from the board.
“Members of the administration asked Dr. Nagler whether everything was above board,” Nichols said. “In response to this, Dr. Nagler was dismissive of those concerns and stated that he spoke with a lawyer who was not the district’s counsel, but stated that James Nagler’s involvement was okay.”
The investigator stated that retaliation against district employees who raised concerns has not been reported to date.
“I am very happy that they found fault in Nagler’s actions, and I hope that this resolves some of the angst that parents have been feeling for quite some time,” said Nick Guariglia, who has a daughter in eighth grade who experienced Build Your Own Grade. He went on to say he thinks Nagler should resign.
