A contentious situation reached a happy conclusion August 29 as the Rye City School District Board of Education passed a settlement agreement with Milton School fourth grade teacher Dana Coppola.
By Sarah Varney
A contentious situation reached a happy conclusion August 29 as the Rye City School District Board of Education passed a settlement agreement with Milton School fourth grade teacher Dana Coppola.
Coppola’s attorney Arthur Schwartz declined to provide details of the settlement, however he did liken it to the settlement reached by Osborn third grade teacher Gail Topol in February of 2014. In that case, Topol paid a $2,500 fine and converted nearly a month of her administrative reassignment to a paid suspension. She was then returned to her classroom. Of Coppola’s agreement with the District, Schwartz said “I can say that we reached an amicable settlement. She’s happy, I’m happy, and the Milton kids and parents will be happy when school opens next week.”
Schwartz confirmed that Coppola has dropped out of the lawsuit filed originally by Carin Mehler on March 26, 2013. Coppola joined the suit in May 2013.
Carin Mehler is now the sole teacher on administrative reassignment. Her lawsuit is scheduled to continue until at least mid-September.
