The Amagansett School principal, who has been on paid leave since January after being accused of taking a $25 Amazon gift card meant for another staff member, denied the charges as a disciplinary hearing investigating the matter came to its conclusion last week.
The incident happened on Dec. 15, 2023; Maria Dorr, who is tenured, was suspended in January, and the district began the process of removing her, known in New York State education law as a 3020-a inquiry.
Ms. Dorr was on the stand for three hours as the virtual proceeding continued on Nov. 20, answering questions from the school’s attorney, Steven Goodstadt, and Brian Deinhart, one of her representatives from the New York State School Administrators Association, who sought to determine the course of events on Dec. 15.
Mr. Goodstadt asked her to confirm that she had walked out of the school mailroom at 8:37 a.m. on Dec. 15, 2023, with a red envelope. Ms. Dorr answered affirmatively, but has maintained that she received a $50 Shell gift card in a red envelope that day, likely from the same student who had given her a Shell gift card during parent-teacher conferences on Nov. 29.
She said she had first heard about the missing envelope at around 10:08 a.m. on Dec. 15 from Cassie Butts, a school office worker, who had informed her that a card intended for Christina McElroy, a teacher, was not in Ms. McElroy’s mailbox.
“Let’s give it some time to show up” before lawyers get involved, Ms. Dorr remembered telling Ms. Butts. The principal said she did not hear about the envelope from Ms. McElroy, that no one else came forward about it, and that she did not know what was inside.
Ms. Dorr said she put the unopened Shell gift card envelope on a table with other gifts. Her name was on the outside, which Mr. Deinhart sought to prove when he flashed a photo of a red envelope with her name on the screen.
“That is the card that I took out of my mailbox on Dec. 15,” Ms. Dorr said.
Mr. Goodstadt countered during cross-examination, alleging that the card Ms. Dorr claims to have received on Dec. 15 was bought on Nov. 29, the same day she received a gift card during parent-teacher conferences. He put a photo of a receipt onscreen, which contained the same final four digits in its identification number as the Shell card.
Mr. Deinhart objected to the receipt being displayed because “there’s no complete pin number.” Timothy Taylor, the hearing officer, overruled the objection, stating: “This is how he’s choosing to cross.”
Mr. Goodstadt then asked if it was a coincidence that the Dec. 15 Shell card was bought on the same day Ms. Dorr had received the other card, prompting a string of back-and-forth between him, Mr. Deinhart, and Mr. Taylor.
Mr. Deinhart objected, claiming that the line of questioning was argumentative, so Mr. Goodstadt said he’d rephrase: Was it a coincidence that the Dec. 15 gift card happened to have been activated on Nov. 29?
Mr. Deinhart objected again, arguing that the question assumes the cards are the same. Mr. Taylor agreed, stating that he doesn’t know whether the numbers on the receipts are unique.
“I believe in evidence. I believe in proof. So, let’s get on to the things we can prove,” Mr. Taylor said, adding, “I don’t believe in coincidence. That’s not a real thing.”
If the back-and-forth during the proceeding seemed confusing, Mr. Taylor later concurred: “There’s so many references to cards, you’d have to be a Las Vegas artist to figure it out at this point.”
Mr. Goodstadt shifted attention to an interaction that Ms. Dorr had with Ms. Butts shortly after the alleged incident. Putting a video onscreen, a paused frame showed Ms. Butts at the bottom of the screen in the front office, with a parent at the top. When Mr. Goodstadt pressed play, Ms. Dorr entered the room from the right. Mr. Goodstadt asked a series of questions about the ensuing encounter.
Did she recall it? No.
What was she doing with her hands? She didn’t know.
How many fingers was she holding up? It looks like one, she said.
Where was it located? On her chin, she answered.
On your mouth? Sure, she said.
The school’s attorney asked if she was shushing Ms. Butts in the video. Ms. Dorr answered that she did not think so; there was a parent right behind her, she said, and she would not discuss anything of that nature in front of a parent.
When asked why she never followed up or did anything about the missing card, Ms. Dorr said: “It’s an elementary school, things go missing all the time.”
Mr. Goodstadt concluded cross-examination by asking if Ms. Dorr saw “any other red envelope” when she was reviewing video footage with her attorneys before the hearing. Ms. Dorr said she could not recall.
The first time Ms. Dorr heard she was accused of stealing the envelope was on Dec. 19, 2023, when Sandra Nuzzi, a clerk who also testified on Nov. 20, told her of the allegations.
“I was in shock,” Ms. Dorr said. Teachers and security staff had looked through camera footage and “saw me with a red card.” Richard Loeschner, the interim superintendent, came into her office two days later, on Dec. 21, and Ms. Dorr asked if she was being investigated.
Mr. Loeschner told her that teachers didn’t trust her, Ms. Dorr testified, and she responded that she felt targeted and that it was an “assassination” of her character: “That was the climate of the building.”
Direct examination concluded when Mr. Deinhart put the charges onscreen. The first alleged that Ms. Dorr had taken the envelope in question. Mr. Deinhart asked if she had taken it, and Ms. Dorr answered simply: “No.”
Mr. Taylor ended the hearing by ordering that the attorneys have their briefs submitted by Jan. 17 in advance of his final decision.