Former Palo Alto High School principal Phil Winston was being investigated for sexual harassment when he stepped down nine months ago and requested a teaching assignment, according to documents the district made public this week.

Winston, who cited a brush with a life-threatening medical illness as the reason for resigning, was disciplined Aug. 13 after the probe substantiated several claims of inappropriate behavior, including that he asked a student whether a friend’s “boobs hurt” following an on-campus streaking incident and that employees did not want to be alone with him because they feared he would say “stupid, thoughtless, sexual or insensitive things to them.”

According to a notice of unprofessional conduct and unsatisfactory performance, Human Resources Assistant Superintendent Scott Bowers ordered Winston to refrain from “profanity, sexual comments and innuendo, and derogatory terms;” avoid physical contact with students and employees; and undergo sexual harassment prevention training. He was also encouraged to seek counseling to help him understand “appropriate behavior boundaries.”

Winston, who is co-teaching a special education class at Jordan Middle School, declined a request for an interview Friday.

But in a March 19 letter regarding the district’s plans to release documents related to the investigation, Winston said “statements and inferences” contained within them lacked context.

“They inaccurately represent me and my character,” Winston wrote to Bowers. “In addition, they do not represent my performance over time, but rather highlight a short period of time during which I was under extreme pressure, stress and had personal challenges.”

Winston also said in the letter that he had told “key personnel” about his plans to resign prior to the probe.

Bowers launched the investigation after an employee requested a confidential meeting on June 5, 2013, to discuss Winston’s conduct, which included “numerous insensitive, inappropriate and sexually harassing comments,” according to a report summary. Eight days later, Winston delivered his resignation to Superintendent Kevin Skelly and asked for a teaching assignment.

The notice ultimately cited four student- and six employee-related incidents as evidence of Winston’s misconduct.

In one incident involving a visit by “Vagina Monologues” author Eve Ensler, Winston allegedly asked a student who stood up to leave, “Hey, where are you going? This is about vaginas. Don’t you want to hear about vaginas?”

Winston told Bowers in a June 14, 2013, letter that he could not recall his exact words but remembered saying something like, “Why are you leaving? This is about ‘Vagina Monologues.'” He went on to describe Ensler’s visit as “an amazing experience for students.”

The documents were heavily redacted and did not identify the students or employees involved.

In a statement, Skelly said the district concluded that the best course of action was to provide Winston with a “corrective action plan.” In addition to the notice of unprofessional conduct and unsatisfactory performance, it included “clear” guidance on expected conduct, consequences if expectations were not met and provisions for assistance.

“Personnel matters of this nature are always sensitive involving the rights of the employee, the rights of the staff and students and the public’s right to information, all of which requires a careful balancing,” Skelly said. “We believe that in this instance all those rights were considered and protected.”

The notice warned that failure on Winston’s part to follow the plan would result in further disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal.

As for allowing Winston to return to the classroom, Skelly noted that he had found success in the role previously. Winston taught at JLS Middle School and served as dean of students and assistant principal at Gunn High School before taking the top job at Paly in 2010.

“The district would not have placed Mr. Winston in any position if it felt he posed any danger to student or staff,” Lou Lozano, an attorney who advised the district during its investigation, said in an email.

“To date, Mr. Winston has had a successful year teaching with no indication that the unprofessional behavior he demonstrated while serving as principal of Palo Alto High School has recurred.”

School board President Barb Mitchell also expressed support for the disciplinary proceedings.

“When people make mistakes, whether they are employees or students, our community expects prompt, informed and fair responses from district officials,” she said, “and this is what took place.”

Email Jason Green at jgreen@dailynewsgroup.com; follow him at twitter.com/jgreendailynews.