An ongoing pattern of behavior leading to a “toxic work environment” is at the crux of dismissal charges against Palmerton Area High School’s principal, the district superintendent told school board members Wednesday night.

Superintendent Scot Engler was the only person to testify on the opening night of a due process hearing for principal Paula Husar, who turned in her keys and was walked out of the building by district administrators on Sept. 7. Husar is suspended without pay, pending the outcome of the hearing.

Husar faces over 20 charges which include a multitude of false statements about Engler, blaming him for the late release of class schedules, trying to discredit him in an email to staff and failing to follow through on a directive to develop a long-range plan for the high school’s foreign language program.

Over three hours Wednesday night, the board heard opening statements from school district solicitor John Audi and Husar’s attorney, Mark Bufalino, followed by the beginning of Engler’s testimony.

The hearing will pick up at 6 p.m. Feb. 21.

At the conclusion of the hearing, the board will decide whether or not to dismiss Husar based on the evidence. Two-thirds of the board must vote for Husar’s dismissal in order for the action to carry through.

Opening statements

Audi acknowledged that the events leading up to the recommendation for Husar’s dismissal became public fodder, but that only half the story had been told.

“Tonight should be Mrs. Husar’s day in court, but it is also Mr. Engler’s day in court,” he said. “He has been publicly accused. He has been lied about and his credibility has been attacked publicly.”

Among other parts of his case against Husar, Audi told the board they would hear from Palmerton staff members about her alleged harassment and intimidation of others.

“What principal of a building goes into a classroom unannounced and observes someone 21 times in 12 days and doesn’t say a word to that person,” he said. “It makes no sense. That person felt intimidated, stalked and harassed.”

Audi also referenced Husar holding up class schedules and failing to follow a directive regarding new student parking for the 2017-18 school year.

For the district to get away from the public outrage and get back to education, he continued, “we need to remove the person who created the problems.”

On the flip side, Bufalino said he doesn’t believe Audi will be able to prove any of the accusations.

“When he doesn’t prove these things,” Bufalino said of Audi, “ask yourself why not?” he told the board. “Where is the proof of everything he just said?”

Bufalino said Engler was thrilled to recommend Husar several years ago, calling her “well-respected and a kid-centered administrator focused on creative solutions.”

The conflict started, Bufalino continued, when Husar was asked to give an honest evaluation of Engler to the school board, whose contract was up for renewal.

“That was supposed to be confidential and that did not happen,” he said. “Ever since that point, he has been on a ‘personal jihad’ against her.”

Husar filed a lawsuit in Carbon County Court in November 2016, alleging negligence and breach of contract after she received 1.15 points on her year-end evaluation and an “unsatisfactory performance rating.”

In November 2016, Husar also filed a gender discrimination, sexual harassment, hostile work environment, age discrimination and retaliation claim against the district and Engler before the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission.

In April, she followed up with a federal lawsuit after receiving the three-day suspension, one day after oral arguments in the Carbon County lawsuit.

Following the lawsuits, Bufalino said, Husar was suspended and many of the issues that she had not been reprimanded for in the past resurfaced.

“He is trying to use the administrative process to cure what he thinks he has been harmed by,” Bufalino said.

Engler testifies

Despite attempts to remedy issues with Husar, Engler told the board, “we never got anywhere.”

“There was never an acceptance of accountability,” he said. “Her fabricating of names and events that never occurred was persistent and ongoing. It became a difficult work environment never knowing the next allegation you might be charged with.”

The first charge levied against Husar was her alleged lying about Engler making “disgusting comments about her” to a Penn’s Peak employee when discussing a high school graduation date in 2017.

“I absolutely did not make those comments about her,” Engler said when asked Wednesday.

Another charge involved Husar’s claim that Engler spoke to a parent whose child was involved in a possible disciplinary matter and tried to get the parent to say Husar did something wrong.

“After many trials and tribulations, Husar told me the allegation was false and there was no parent,” Engler testified. “Then she recanted and gave a name. When I called that parent, they were very confused by the entire situation and said with 100 percent certainty that they had never met with me in regard to any matters.”

Engler went on to tell the board that Husar blamed him for holding up the release of class schedules in 2017 due to him not approving her welcome back letter.

“The schedules were ready to go out on Aug. 16, and I did not receive her letter until August 21, the same day I was told people were waiting on me for approval,” he testified.

Husar also penned a welcome back email to staff that didn’t name Engler specifically, but he felt it indirectly referenced a labor dispute and “undermined his ability to govern the district.”

In the email, Husar said it had been a difficult summer for her and used the phrase “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”

“I’ve never seen a welcome back letter like this,” Engler testified. “I thought it was unprofessional and inappropriate.”

Engler said he gave Husar a directive at the start of the 2015-16 school year to evaluate the foreign language offerings at the high school and make recommendations moving forward.

“After several years, she drafted a letter to send to parents in July 2017 in which she stated she wanted to eliminate German because the enrollment numbers were dropping,” Engler testified. “In fact, she never looked up the enrollment numbers until Aug. 14, one day before a presentation to the school board, and found they were increasing. Her plan was thrown together haphazardly at the last minute.”

One of the final topics Engler discussed Wednesday was a charge that Husar “failed to adequately and appropriately address a parent’s questions about students’ criteria for admittance into National Honor Society.”

According to Engler, a parent who requested answers on the criteria for admittance to NHS received “vague and unsupported answers from Husar.”

“She incorrectly stated there was a limit of members who could qualify, said there was no specific set standard for community service hours and then had them changed to justify why the student did not gain entrance,” Engler said. “I worked to make sure we have an objectively verified admittance process moving forward. Mrs. Husar should have been the one to do that.”

Engler will continue his testimony when the hearing picks up in February.