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David Zehner (center), who was suspended as Jordan-Elbridge High School principal since September 20, 2010 worked as a real estate agent in the interim. He will now be reinstated after a decision by an arbitrator.

(David Lassman/ dlassman@syracuse.com)

A suspended Jordan-Elbridge high school principal will get his job back following a decision by a New York State Education Department arbitrator.

David Zehner, who was suspended from his job as J-E high school principal in 2010, will be reinstated, according to the ruling.

The arbitrator threw out all but one on the 31 charges and 220 specific allegations leveled against Zehner, said Dennis O'Hara, his lawyer. The single charge not thrown out involved Zehner stating at a board meeting that he did not respect one of the administrators. "The arbitrator slapped his hand for that,'' O'Hara said.

The decision came following 43 days of hearings over 4 1/2 years. There were more 8,000 pages of transcript and almost 400 exhibits, O'Hara said.

The arbitrator ruled that Zehner be reinstated, and that the district be required to pay a portion of the cost of his defense, specifically in regard to defending himself against the charge that he changed grades.

"The arbitrator said that was frivolous,'' O'Hara said.

O'Hara said Zehner spent "a small fortune" paying lawyers to defend him in this case.

"This decision was a shutout,'' O'Hara said.

James Froio, J-E superintendent, said the board has 15 days to accept or reject the decison. He said he will recommend the board accept the ruling and reinstate Zehner.

"I always said to the community that we would stand by the hearing officer's ruling,'' he said. Froio was not superintendent at the time Zehner was suspended.

Froio said he did not know yet when Zehner will return to his job, but noted that Mary Thomas-Madonna was appointed as an "acting principal" while the case was being decided.

Zehner will return to his job at the current salary in the contract, estimated to be about $114,000 annually.

Zehner said the news hasn't quite sunk in yet, but he said he is thrilled.

"I'm just so excited to get back to work,'' he said. "I'm very excited at the ruling."

Zehner has continued to receive his $111,129 salary plus benefits while his case was argued.

The district paid Zehner more than $500,000 in pay and benefits while he was on suspension, based on previous estimates the district made. An exact total was not available today.

District officials in 2013 estimated legal and other costs associated with the case at more than $100,000. An exact total of the districts final legal and other costs was not available today.

The district had accused Zehner of being incompetent, immoral, insubordinate, neglecting his duty and for conduct unbecoming of an administrator. The district alleged, for example, that Zehner gave a diploma to a student who had not fulfilled the graduation requirements.

Zehner denied the district's allegations and contested his dismissal with a 3020-a hearing under New York state education law. The hearings are required whenever a district wants to remove a tenured administrator.

Zehner fought back, claiming that the district violated his First Amendment right to free speech and assembly and that they retaliated against him as a whistle-blower. He sued the district in 2011, claiming district officials had retaliated against him for raising concerns about their conduct, and that they had illegally suspended him.

Zehner's lawyer O'Hara today said It took so long for several reasons.

"The District dragged its feet to avoid judgment day," he said in an email. "The District consumed several days of hearing trying to prove a charge that never had any merit that the arbitrator ultimately determined was frivolous. And it is apparent that the arbitrator very carefully reviewed over 8,000 pages of transcript and almost 400 multi-paged exhibits in writing a decision that did not miss anything."



"He was able to determine which witnesses were credible, and which were not," he said. "He was also able to appreciate and understand the incredibly dysfunctional situation in the District as well as the fact that the internal auditor, Alicia Mattie abused her position, the assistant High School Principal, Mary Madonna, acted out of self interest, and the Board president, Mary Alley, meddled in matters that a Board member should never become involved in."

It is not unusual for school employee disciplinary cases in New York state to drag on for years and cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars when a school district and its suspended employee can't see eye-to-eye, and an arbitrator is brought in to hear both sides.

State law requires a formal hearing before an impartial hearing officer or a panel before a tenured teacher or administrator can be dismissed from a school district.

Cases that head to a 3020-a disciplinary hearing take 653 days on average -- or more than 21 months -- before an arbitrator issues a decision, according to the state Education Department. (3020-a refers to a section of state education law.)