The teachers accused of having sex with each other inside a classroom at James Madison High School have been fired by the city after arbitrators ruled that the two were most likely having a sexual encounter.
The hammer officially fell on Cindy Mauro, a French teacher, was found to be “partially undressed in a classroom and engaging in sexually inappropriate behavior with a colleague” inside the Bedford Avenue school on Nov. 20, 2009.
The woman officials say Mauro was canoodling with, Spanish teacher Alini Brito, was let go a week earlier. Both teachers, who were tenured, will still receive their pensions.
During the arbitration hearings, the two told their side of the story, which they say was more about compassion than passion
Brito said Mauro was giving her an insulin injection when the custodian walked by the classroom and saw the two women writhing around on the floor.
The diabetic claimed she was attending a school-sponsored dance with Mauro when her blood sugar began to drop. She asked Mauro to help her with the injection, who in turn recommended that they go to her classroom because she had some candy there.
When they reached the room, Brito took off her blouse, which she then used as a pillow while Mauro prepared the injection.
During her hearing, Mauro backed Brito’s claims, stating that she took her teacher to her room for an insulin injection. They had shut off the light in the room because they were bothering Brito, who was lying on the floor, Mauro claimed.
But the janitor had a different story.
He told investigators that when he walked in, both teachers were naked and Mauro was between Brito’s legs.
Unlike Mauro and Brito, school officials kept word of the salacious discovery undercover — until news of what might have happened began to spread among the student body.
Soon, a Facebook page dedicated to the scandal entitled “the infamous Ms. Brito rumor” brought the incident to the attention of higher-ups.
Education officials suspended the two teachers and assigned them to other duties within the district.
Late last month, arbitrator Mary Crangle ruled that the testimony from a janitor and other school officials outweighed Brito’s claims.
“This was more likely than not a sexual encounter,” Crangle said.
The Department of Education fired Brito after receiving Crangle’s report.
Mauro was fired after Arbitrator Arthur Reigel found her testimony to be “rehearsed.”
He also found that the French teacher “lied on cross-examination” and that her testimony “made no sense.”
“If Brito had low blood sugar, insulin would have harmed her,” Reigel wrote. “Yet, her excuse was that Brito needed insulin because her sugar level was low. [Mauro] is a liar.”
