Nathaniel Nichols, of counsel at the law firm Weidman Osterman & Hannah, told the Mineola Union Free School District Board of Education on Jan. 8 that his independent review found violations of the district’s code of ethics and of the superintendent’s employment contract tied to the development of a learning-management system and an associated limited liability company.

Nichols said his firm interviewed 15 witnesses plus Dr. Nagler, reviewed the district’s code of ethics and relevant policies and examined evidence about an outside entity called Quave and a program referred to as Build Your Own Grade (BYOG). “Our final determination was that there were violations of the code of ethics by Dr. Nagler,” Nichols said, citing undisclosed formation of the LLC, lack of written notice to the board and other failures to disclose interests.

Nichols also said the investigation reviewed procurement and data-privacy questions but that those topics were constrained by the engagement and by the availability of data. He told the board that data-privacy matters are appropriately handled by regulatory agencies and that formation and financial-disclosure documents were not fully examined as part of the current engagement.

The board later returned from executive session and approved Resolution 58, authorizing the suspension with pay of employee number 01655 until the next scheduled board meeting on Jan. 22, 2026, pending the board’s review of Nichols’ report. The suspension passed by a voice vote recorded as “Aye.”

Nichols said the district had previously treated the LMS development as an internal, voluntary project and that the board had seen test iterations during the 2024–25 school year. He described a timeline in which a website was registered in December 2024; an LLC (Quave) was formed in July 2025; and the board directed that the website and LMS be taken down on Oct. 3, 2025, after community members raised concerns.

Nichols said the probe examined whether the superintendent’s actions were known to the board and concluded that the board was not aware of the material facts that would have allowed it to take a full and fair determination at the time. He emphasized that, while some policy violations were found, his engagement did not make criminal findings and that some matters (notably data contained in the LMS) were referred to appropriate regulatory agencies for further review.

The board announced the independent investigation report would be available for public inspection on Jan. 9 through the district clerk’s office; Nichols said witness names were redacted in the report to protect confidentiality.

The board’s action to suspend the employee is an interim personnel decision. The board said it will review Nichols’ written report before deciding next steps at the Jan. 22 meeting.