GUILDERLAND — Brenda McClaine, who was treasurer of the Guilderland Teachers’ Association when she stole over $100,000 from the union, no longer works for the Guilderland School District.

In exchange for her resignation, the school board agreed to withdraw the disciplinary charges the superintendent had filed against McClaine, to pay the district portion of her health insurance until June 30, 2015, and also to allow her two fifth-grade children to finish out their school year free of charge.

McClaine signed the settlement agreement on Nov. 21, which the school board approved on Dec. 10. The board held a special meeting at 8 a.m. that morning after a snowstorm cancelled the previously scheduled board meeting the night before. In less than 10 minutes, the six board members present (Barbara Fraterrigo, Christopher McManus, Colleen O’Connell, Allan Simpson, Judy Slack, and Gloria Towle-Hilt) all voted to approve the eight-page separation agreement and to accept McClaine’s resignation — the only item on the agenda.

The board had discussed the situation in executive session over the course of six months, said Superintendent Marie Wiles.

“I’m very pleased with the outcome,” said Wiles last Friday. “It took a long time. Of all the outcomes that were possible, this is the best we could hope for. We could have and would have pursued charges under 3020-a,” she said, referring to a section of State Education Law that requires a hearing to remove tenured teachers like McClaine.

“There was no guarantee the outcome would be as we hoped,” Wiles went on. “We could potentially have gone to the hearing and lost.... That would have been a long and expensive process,” she said, and the district would be “bound” to the decision.

McClaine could not be reached for comment. And Carl Korn, chief press officer at New York State United Teachers, which represented McClaine, said, “We don’t comment on legal settlements because of attorney-client privilege.”

McClaine was arrested on March 27 after she had paid back the $100,382.50 she had stolen between August 2012 and October 2013. She was charged with second-degree grand larceny. In September, McClaine agreed to a plea deal for one count of third-degree grand larceny, a felony. She was sentenced on Nov. 14 to served six months, on weekends, followed by five years of probation.

McClaine had worked for the Guilderland school district since 1999 and, before her arrest, she taught math at Farnsworth Middle School. While the police investigation was underway in March, McClaine was re-assigned to work on a curriculum project “so as not to disrupt the educational process,” Wiles said at the time.

After the arrest, McClaine was placed on leave, and paid her regular teacher’s salary, of $66,268 annually, on a per diem basis. Over the summer, typical of any teacher, McClaine was not working at the school. In the fall, she worked out of the district office, doing research and analysis for which she was qualified, Wiles said at the time.

Wiles said last week that the long wait may have “frustrated many people looking in from the outside.”

She went on, “I’m sure folks would wonder why the board waited till September to file charges. We waited for the judicial process so, when we filed charges, we had a guilty plea...That delay was purposeful.”

Wiles also noted that, by law, a school district cannot file charges over the summer when school is not in session. “Summer school doesn’t count,” she said.

“Because the judicial system moved so slowly,” she said, “we were in limbo all summer.”

Wiles also said that, while it was “awkward” having McClaine working at the district office after her admission of guilt on a felony charge, “Everyone behaved very respectfully and professionally.” She concluded, “It wasn’t ideal, but it was OK.”

Wiles stressed that McClaine was qualified to do the projects she worked on and said, “She had projects that needed to be done.”

At its meeting on Tuesday night, the school board appointed Ashley Girard to the teaching post that McClaine had held, providing academic intervention services in math to Farnsworth Middle School students. The appointment is effective from Sept. 1, 2014 to Aug. 31, 2017. Teachers typically serve a three-year probationary period before being tenured. Girard holds professional certification for teaching mathematics in grades 7, 8, and 9.

The agreement

The Enterprise obtained a copy of the agreement through a Freedom of Information Law request filed last week. It states that the agreement resolves “the disciplinary charges that were filed by Superintendent Wiles against the Employee, upon which the Board found probable cause on September 23, 2014, and upon which the Employee denied said charges and requested a hearing pursuant to Education Law 3020-a.”

The board’s finding “probable cause” came two weeks after McClaine agreed to a plea deal in Albany County Court.

A person with a felony conviction can be a teacher in New York State, according to Jeanne Beattie with the State Education Department; the only conviction for which a teacher automatically loses certification is one for child sexual abuse.

Asked what the disciplinary charges were, Wiles said, “Unfortunately, because they were withdrawn, I don’t have any ability to say what the charges were. The idea is, because they were not founded, it would thwart her ability to move forward.”

The agreement states that the board will withdraw the disciplinary charges. In return, McClaine agreed to sign an “irrevocable” letter of resignation. The one-sentence letter states, “I hereby resign from employment with the Guilderland Central School District for personal reasons, with an effective date of November 21, 2014.”

The school board further agreed to provide McClaine with “current contractual health insurance as provided to other members of the Guilderland Teachers’ Association until June 30, 2015.” The district pays 80 percent of health-insurance costs for teachers and teachers themselves pay the other 20 percent. McClaine’s share of contribution toward the premium from Nov. 21 through June 30 is to be deducted from payroll payments to her.

The board also agreed to permit McClaine’s children — both in fifth grade — to finish the school year without being charged tuition. The district has a policy that current employees can have their children attend Guilderland schools free of charge.

At the time of her arrest, McClaine lived in the school district, at 37 Armstrong Court in Altamont. She has since moved out of the district, Wiles said, and, as she is no longer an employee, she would, according to the policy, have to apply for her twins to attend and then pay tuition.

However, the board decided “it would be the kind and humane thing to do” to allow her children to attend for free for the remaining six months of their elementary-school career. If McClaine wants her children to attend Farnsworth Middle School in the fall, she would have to apply and pay tuition, Wiles said.

The agreement and letter of resignation will be placed in McClaine’s personnel file maintained by the district. However, the agreement stipulates that all other “documents, memoranda, and other materials that relate to the charges against the Employee shall be removed from the employee’s personnel file.” Those materials are to be maintained by the district’s lawyer, the agreement says.

“He’s keeping all the materials connected to this disciplinary matter in a safe place in case we need access,” Wiles said.

The agreement does not include a confidentiality clause. “If a prospective employer asked,” said Wiles, “I could answer questions” about McClaine’s arrest.

For her part, McClaine waived any grievance against the school district based on the investigation or disciplinary charges. She released the district, its officers, administrators, board members, and agents from all claims and liability “relating to the allegations, investigation, prosecution, and settlement of the disciplinary charges.”