Twice, the district has filed 3020-a disciplinary charges against Shaul. These procedures are the sole method available to districts wishing to discipline tenured teachers for perceived violations. The first hearing resulted in a $3,500 fine and the second in four months suspension without pay.

In January of this year, Shaul won a grievance against the district to gain unrestricted access to the school campus after being limited due to a hearing officer's finding in 2000 that Shaul had engaged in "flirtatious and unwelcome conduct of a sexual or romantic nature" toward a minor student.

The Cherry Valley-Springfield Teachers Association filed the grievance on his behalf because, as high school English teacher Margaret Bouck, representing the organization, said at the time, "I can't choose which members to defend. This is about protecting the rights of teachers. Our rights are very clearly spelled out in our contracts."

Shaul was found guilty of one of four charges stemming from the last hearing, and at the time called the case "one of the great works of American fiction."

He turned around and sued the district, charging that his classroom was illegally searched and property was seized. Judge David Hurd of the U.S. District Court dismissed the suit against superintendent Thomas Marzeski, secondary principal Charles W. Strange, elementary principal Charles F. Culbert and "John Does 1-4," unidentified custodians.

According to the judge's documented decision, Shaul claimed that his Fourth Amendment rights were violated by the defendants. The findings begin with a section called "Facts" that recaps Shaul's history of conduct with minor female students.

"In a 1990 administrative hearing, Shaul was found guilty of having an inappropriate relationship with a female student. In November of 1998, as a result of an investigation performed by the school district into alleged improprieties toward another young female student, plaintiff was suspended with pay on January 15, 1999 to March 10, 2000 and ordered to remain off school property. On March 10, 2000, he was again found guilty in an administrative hearing and was placed on unpaid suspension from that date until June 30, 2000. He resumed teaching in the fall of 2000."

"When plaintiff was suspended on January 15, 1999, he was directed by district superintendent Marzeski to meet him on January 19, 1999 at 4:00 p.m. to return school property and remove his personal belongings from the classroom. He did not attend this meeting because he wanted a representative of the New York State Teacher's Union to accompany him."

On January 29, 1999, Shaul was permitted to enter the school under supervision to collect personal effects. His classroom is described as "extremely cluttered," and given this state of affairs he was unable to remove all his possessions.

What happened next resulted in the lawsuit.

The next day, Marzeski, Strange and Culbert returned to the classroom to prepare it for instructional use, sorting objects into categories. They cleaned out a locked file cabinet by drilling the lock. During the course of sorting they found a photo of the student from the "1990 incident" as well as personal correspondence which was dismissed by the hearing officer when they tried to submit it as evidence at the second disciplinary hearing.

Shaul claimed he never received some of his possessions when his things were handed over and that the search of his room was unconstitutional. His second cause of action seeks punitive damages against the individual defendants. His final cause of action claims that the school district showed deliberate indifference to his rights.

In his conclusion, Hurd stated, "There is no genuine issue for trial on the issue of an illegal search and seizure of the contents in plaintiff's former classroom. Thus, no award for punitive damages can be granted. Shaul's cause of action against the municipality fails to state a claim."

CV-S school board member Richard Daley said, "It's about time something went our way as a school district. It's about time for a win for the good guys."

Shaul did not return requests for comment.