Palm Beach County public school leaders have postponed a decision on whether to fire ousted Spanish River High School Principal William Latson, the veteran educator who drew national scrutiny over his comments last year about the Holocaust.

Reversing his proposal to allow Latson’s contract to expire, Schools Superintendent Donald Fennoy instead has ordered a personnel investigation of Latson’s actions before deciding whether he should lose his job.

The move, announced Monday evening, postpones a decision on Latson’s fate and could give him an opportunity to keep a district position if the investigation finds insufficient grounds for termination.

"Dr. Fennoy planned to recommend to the School Board the non-renewal of Mr. Latson's contract," the district said in a statement. "However, Mr. Latson's subsequent actions require the District to investigate."

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Unlike allowing an employee contract to expire, a move to fire a contracted school district employee generally requires evidence of wrongdoing or poor job performance, and a decision to terminate can be appealed by the employee.

“As is the protocol of the School District's termination process, Mr. Latson will be afforded all of his due process rights,” the district's statement said.

It was not known when a decision on Latson's fate would be made, but the district said a date for the school board to "consider the superintendent's recommendation for termination" would be "as soon as possible."

School district personnel investigations generally take months to complete, although a school district official familiar with the case said Latson's investigation was likely to be expedited.

The veteran principal was removed from his position — but not fired — this month after comments in which he refused last year to call the Holocaust a "factual, historical event" were revealed by The Palm Beach Post.

His year-old emails to a parent stirred a national outcry, and some lawmakers, including GOP U.S. Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, pushed for the district to go further and terminate his employment.

Those calls grew after Latson sent a farewell message to his staff in which he blamed the parent's "false statements" for the controversy. The Anti-Defamation League said that his effort to shift blame to the parent indicated that he "cannot take responsibility for his actions."

Latson's messages, sent in April 2018, included statements that "not everyone believes the Holocaust happened" and that as an educator he had "the role to be politically neutral."

He also said that "I can't say the Holocaust is a factual, historical event because I am not in a position to do so as a school district employee."

Fennoy said this month that Latson's refusal to distinguish between fact and opinion made it "untenable" for him to lead the school.

The decision to investigate Latson rather than let his contract expire may have been driven in part by legal uncertainty about his contract's status: school board members already voted to renew his contract last month.

District officials have argued that the board's vote is not legally binding and can be reversed since Latson's new contract has not been signed and executed. But some district officials privately worried that its pending status could have given Latson grounds for a legal challenge.

As district leaders work to resolve Latson's fate, they are moving quickly to replace him at Spanish River. As the school's new principal, the district announced Monday that Fennoy has tapped Allison Castellano, currently the principal of nearby Omni Middle School.

Castellano is a Spanish River High graduate and a former teacher there, Regional Superintendent Peter Licata said in a message to parents.

“Taking on the principal post at Spanish River will be very familiar to her as she is entrenched in the Boca Raton community and knows many of the Spanish River students who attended Omni,” Licata wrote.

The school board is expected to consider Castellano’s appointment Wednesday.