School board: No state violation by Islip Superintendent Dennis O’Hara

An investigation has determined that photographs taken of female fellow lifeguards by Islip schools Superintendent Dennis O’Hara last summer at Robert Moses State Park did not violate state workplace sexual harassment and discrimination policy, the Board of Education announced Thursday evening.

During a regularly scheduled meeting, Board of Education Vice President Paul Austin read an open letter to the Islip community regarding investigations conducted into O’Hara’s behavior by New York State, the school district’s council and a third-party investigator the board retained.

O’Hara has publicly apologized for taking photos of female lifeguards in their bathing suits while he himself was employed as a lifeguard at Robert Moses State Park.

The state investigation determined O’Hara “did not violate the state’s policy prohibiting sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace,” Austin read. He added that the state’s determination letter concluded “the allegations could not be substantiated and no further action will be taken.”

“The district council’s review of this matter in interviews of lifeguards and lifeguard supervisors by its investigators revealed no additional information to refute the state’s determination,” Austin continue

The district additionally retained a third-party investigator to look into an “unrelated” claim raised by a former colleague of O’Hara’s at another school district, Austin said. This individual “raised a complaint from over 20 years ago, concerning the alleged sharing of a photograph.”

This third investigation concluded that the “allegations levied against Dr. O’Hara were not factually supported, nor were they supported by those witnesses who were present at the alleged time,” Austin read.

Austin said the situation has cost taxpayers “just under $29,000” in legal fees.

In a letter he issued to the Islip community on Aug. 23, O’Hara admitted snapping photographs of two female lifeguards and sharing them with a supervisor out of “concern about their bathing attire,” Newsday previously reported. O’Hara added that it was a “deeply regrettable mistake” and said he would no longer work as a summer lifeguard while employed as superintendent.

At a board of education meeting a few days later, O’Hara publicly stated that he regretted “the manner in which” he had addressed “something in the workplace that was inappropriate” and making him “uncomfortable.” He added that the lifeguards were adults, and that “there were no teenagers involved” in the matter.

The board members did not make any determination regarding O’Hara’s future with the district Thursday evening. O’Hara remains under contact with Islip, but the board voted to appoint Kathleen O’Callaghan, the district’s assistant superintendent for student support, to the role of acting superintendent last August, Newsday previously reported.

While it was not immediately clear when the board may come to a determination, Austin said their decision regarding O’Hara would be made “very soon.”

O’Callaghan said O’Hara has been “working from home.”

O’Hara could not be reached late Thursday.