A Neshaminy High School teacher was fired at Tuesday night’s school board meeting.
The board of nine voted unanimously to fire the teacher, who they did not name, for reasons not publicly stated during the meeting.
Advertisements
Board solicitor Thomas Profy advised the board after the vote to refrain from commenting because the dismissal could “come before the board in a judiciary capacity.”
LevittownNow.com obtained an internal district document and confirmed with multiple district sources that the teacher terminated was Jared Katz, who most recently taught English and previously served as a vice president of the Neshaminy Federation of Teachers.
Officials from the district looked shocked after the meeting when reporters produced copies of an alleged March 19, 2014 letter to Katz. The letter is titled “Re: State of Charges and Notice of Hearing.”
Advertisements
The two-page letter lays out the reasons the district was looking to fire Katz and includes some details of an internal investigation. The letter alleges the district investigation found Katz made “lewd and suggestive statements” to students and staff.
Profy said “the signatures [on the letter] speak for themselves,” but declined to comment further. Board member Mike Morris said he was going to follow Profy’s advice and not comment on the letter but stated it appeared to be on authentic district letterhead. Board President Scott Congdon asked reporters how they obtained a copy of the “confidential letter.”
Advertisements
An NFT official said Tuesday night that she could not comment on the reason Katz was fired.
The letter also advises Katz that Neshaminy has reported the results of the investigation to the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
A reporter was unable to find telephone contact information for Katz online and an associate of the former teacher declined release Katz’s number.
Advertisements
Katz, according to the letter, was on “suspension without pay status pending completion of the hearing and the determination of the Board” as of last month.
