By Marley Seaman
Lerner was one of several staff members who sued the district last August. The doctor alleged that he was told to alter psychological evaluations of students and withhold information from parents to prevent the district from having to pay for special services. Recommendations about students were placed on "green sheets," internal forms that were kept from parents. The New York State Department of Education ruled that keeping the sheets secret violated the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and ordered the district to make the green sheets available to parents.
Lerner also said that when he went public with his grievances, the district retaliated by reassigning him from the high school to Meadow Elementary School and preventing him from working with children.
Under the terms of the settlement, Lerner spent the last two months of the past school year on sick leave. He will take a health-related sabbatical for the upcoming school year, and his resignation goes into effect on June 30, 2006. Lerner is also barred from entering school property or having any contact with any staff, parents or students for any reason related to the district.
"He did not even have a chance to say goodbye to those children," says 1995 Baldwin high school graduate Sarah Rafalowitz, a past school board candidate and president of the newly-chartered Special Education Parent-Teacher Association. Rafalowitz complains of "the abandonment of the children Dr. Lerner was seeing in a professional manner in the district."
"It seems to me that a psychologist had to give up his career for simple changes that [were made subject to] law," she says.
The school district declined to comment on the settlement, and the terms of the settlement prohibit Lerner from discussing it.
Lerner's legal actions against the district were all withdrawn under the settlement, and he has agreed not to file any others in the future against the district or its officers or staff. The district also forfeits the right to sue Lerner.
The withdrawn actions include a complaint filed last July that stated Lerner was targeted by the district in response to whistle blowing and was harmed by a hostile work environment. He also filed a complaint with the New York State Division of Human Rights and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Middle school deans Cheryl Farb and Alvis Brown also sued the district. Farb said she was sexually harassed; Brown alleged racial discrimination and inappropriate administrative practices. Both lawsuits are still pending.
