Principal who made Holocaust comments should not have been fired, judge rules
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The former Boca Raton principal who generated a national uproar for his comments about the Holocaust should not have been fired, a judge ruled Thursday.
The Palm Beach County School District should have given William Latson, former principal of Spanish River High, a reprimand or reassigned him to another job, according to the ruling by Judge Robert S. Cohen.
The school district “failed to prove that (Latson) engaged in misconduct in office, incompetence, or gross insubordination by a preponderance of the evidence. No just cause for his suspension or termination exists, but a reprimand and reassignment are warranted,” the judge wrote.
“Any competent evidence of Anti-Semitism, either direct or indirect, on Dr. Latson’s part, is sorely lacking,” Cohen wrote. The judge said “the whole mess would have been avoided” if Latson had chosen his words more carefully in his emails to a parent and in a farewell letter to his staff.
