Valley Stream South High School teacher Jeffrey Hsi removed from advisory post over controversy involving BOE trustee's son, suit alleges
A Valley Stream South High School teacher is challenging his removal from his long-term post as head of the school's science research program. Credit: Newsday/Howard Schnapp
A physics teacher is suing the school board of Valley Stream Central High School District, alleging a board trustee used her position to influence district officials to remove him from a science research program after the trustee's son was disqualified from a competition.
Jeffrey Hsi, a tenured South High School teacher in Valley Stream, said the district “arbitrarily” took him off the program, which he had led for 22 years. He alleged the decision was driven by “improper and undue influence” exerted by board member Melissa Herrera.
In the complaint, Hsi wrote that Herrera, whose son was in the science research program, leveraged her position to “satisfy a personal grievance involving her own child, a clear conflict of interest and an abuse of her position that tainted the entire administrative process.”
Hsi filed the lawsuit earlier this month in state Supreme Court of Nassau County. He is seeking a court order to compel the district to reinstate him to the research program. Hsi, who is representing himself in the case, declined to comment.
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- Valley Stream South High School physics teacher Jeffrey Hsi is suing after he was removed from his longtime post leading the school's science research program.
- Hsi alleges that school board member Melissa Herrera used her position to influence district officials to remove him after her son was disqualified from a competition.
- Herrera and her husband have blamed Hsi for the disqualification because he signed a form he shouldn't have. Hsi has said he was trying to help the student meet a submission deadline.
The school board and district Superintendent Wayne Loper, who was also named as a respondent in the suit, said in a statement, "The district does not comment on threatened or pending litigation."
Melissa Herrera and her husband, Jonathan Herrera, did not respond to requests for comment.
Hsi’s suit came months after his June removal sparked an outcry from alumni who described him as a caring but exacting mentor who pushed them to excel. The former students said his absence hurts future students who will not benefit from his expertise or guidance.
Application controversy
The conflict between Hsi and the Herreras arose after the couple’s son was disqualified from the New York State Science and Engineering Fair in March, according to Hsi’s complaint.
The student, then a senior who has since graduated, was disqualified because his application had Hsi’s signatures indicating he was both a “qualified scientist” and a member of an Institutional Review Board for the student’s project, according to the complaint. In science research, one person cannot serve both roles as it poses a conflict of interest.
The student's father, Jonathan Herrera, filed a complaint in May with the school requesting an investigation into Hsi as he was their son’s teacher. In the complaint, which was attached to the lawsuit as an exhibit, Jonathan Herrera wrote his son’s disqualification “did not stem from any failure on his part.”
“Rather, it was caused entirely by Mr. Hsi's deliberate choice to ignore well-established ethical boundaries,” the father wrote. “It is deeply alarming and frankly incomprehensible that someone in a position of authority would knowingly place a student in such a compromising situation.”
Hsi disputed Herrera's characterization of what happened, writing in the suit that he had signed the qualified scientist form in a “last-minute, good-faith effort” to help the student meet the submission deadline.
Due to a technical error on the competition website, Hsi said the student was required to file a qualified scientist form, even though it wasn't applicable to his project. Since the student could not submit his application without the form, Hsi said he signed it as a placeholder at the student’s request.
The technical error could have been resolved if the student had brought up the issue earlier but there was not enough time to address it as the deadline loomed, Hsi said.
Hsi alleged that Melissa Herrera and her husband contacted the school principal, Matthew Swinson, in March and "demanded disciplinary action" against him, according to his petition. Hsi said Melissa Herrera later approached Loper in April at a science symposium and pushed for a formal inquiry into the teacher.
Following multiple investigations, Swinson issued Hsi a counseling memo on June 11 and directed the teacher to refrain from such conduct again. Hsi said the principal had concluded the matter was an “unfortunate accident.”
On June 12, the day after he was given the counseling memo, Hsi said he was verbally informed of his removal from the program. He alleged the reason for this “draconian” penalty was a capitulation to the demands of a “vociferous” board member.
“To punish a single, good-faith mistake with professional ruin is an abuse of discretion that creates a chilling effect on all educators who might fear that any minor error could be exploited for political or personal reasons,” Hsi wrote in his complaint.
Retaliation concern
In a second, undated letter, Jonathan Herrera wrote to the principal that he and his wife were concerned after hearing Hsi had gathered rising seniors in the research program to inform them of his removal. When asked why, Hsi reportedly told the students: “You will find out soon enough.”
“We interpret this statement as a potential threat or inappropriate reference to our ongoing matter,” the father wrote. He sought school reassurance that “no further retaliatory behavior will be tolerated,” noting their daughter was to participate in the program this school year.
Hsi alleged in the complaint that Melissa Herrera told the board and Loper she and her husband were afraid that Hsi would retaliate against their daughter and thus did not want him in charge of the program for 2025-26, which Hsi said was to the detriment of other students in the program.
Joseph Giani, a former superintendent, was hired to investigate allegations Hsi retaliated against the Herreras or breached confidentiality. Giani determined in September that there was insufficient evidence to support the allegations.
Giani also determined that allegations brought by Hsi against Melissa Herrera did not rise to the level of workplace harassment and retaliation. He determined to be unfounded the teacher's allegation that the disciplinary action against him was unsupported.
Newsday's Jim Baumbach contributed to this story.
Dandan Zou covers education for Newsday. Previously, she worked for a community newspaper in Maryland and a personal finance magazine in Washington, D.C.
