Manhasset Supt. Who Violated Harassment Policy On Leave: Report

MANHASSET, NY — The Manhasset Schools Superintendent, who was recently found to have violated the district’s sexual harassment policy, is taking a leave of absence, according to The Manhasset Press.

The district’s Board of Education announced Thursday in a public letter that while Vincent Butera is on leave, Deputy Superintendent Rosemary Johnson will be stepping into his post in the interim, the outlet reported. In the letter, school board officials said that the past two weeks were an “incredibly difficult time” for the school community, and as they close out the school year, their “sole focus will be on supporting the students, faculty, and staff,” The Press reported.

It is not clear if Butera’s leave was voluntary or if some action was taken by the Board of Education.

District spokesman Michael Ganci of Syntax, an outside public relations firm, could not be reached for comment.

Over 200 students at Manhasset Secondary School left class on May 7 in protest of Butera violating the district policy on sexual harassment and called for his resignation. Teachers also protested by wearing all black and standing on the lawn outside the secondary school, The Press reported.

The district had a law firm conduct an independent investigation into a teacher's complaint that Butera hugged her and visited her classroom too frequently, and it found that he violated the school district's policy on sexual harassment, according to The Manhasset Press, which originally broke the story May 5.

At a Board of Education meeting on May 6, Butera spoke about how the law firm assigned to examine the complaint against him found that his attentions were interpreted as unwanted by the unnamed complainant, and violated the district's policy.

"I was extremely disheartened to learn that my actions were construed by even by one person as anything other than completely professional," Butera said in a Zoom meeting that has been archived to the district’s YouTube channel.

Butera described the complaints, including that he came too close to the complainant and had a work-related conversation as a deejay played music at a retirement party with over 100 people. He also said that he hugged the complainant to console her after a teacher died, "as I did with others that day.”

The complainant told investigators that Butera came into her classroom too frequently to observe her, and also that on another occasion, he took photos of her child who was highlighted at an event, and then asked for another email to send them because the files were too large to send over the district's email, he said.

He also said that as the district celebrated a significant achievement by a group of teachers, he and other administrators "offered a congratulatory hug" to the teacher and other staff.

"Despite my intent, the independent counsel did find that my attention was perceived by the complainant as unwelcome, and therefore a violation of district policy," Butera said, adding that his actions and behavior have always been intended to mirror the values and high standards that so many of us, and I, hold dear, and to convey care and concern, and the thought that even one person perceived that differently brings me both regret and sadness, and for that, I have reflected deeply."