District settles discrimination suit with former principals
Tuxedo. The $190K settlement agreement comes after the two school officials were fired in 2023.
| 19 Nov 2025 | 09:46
Two former Tuxedo Union Free School District principals who were terminated in 2023 have reached a $190,000 settlement with the district, according to a former school board member.
“The New York Schools Insurance Reciprocal, as the insurance carrier for the district, agrees to pay releasors the total sum of $190,000 in full and final settlement,” Dan Castricone posted on Facebook last month.
Castricone – who served on the board of education when it voted 5-2 to remove Roy Reese as George F. Baker High School principal and Dolores Terlecky from her position as George Grant Mason Elementary School – is referring to a settlement in an age discrimination lawsuit brought by Reese and Terlecky against the district.
At the time of their firings, Reese was 82 and Terlecky was 72. They alleged they were removed without warning and were not allowed to respond to claims made by the superintendent.
Students and other members of the school community protested the firings at board of education meetings and by way of a walkout at the high school.
Castricone was critical of Superintendent Jeffrey White and the board members who followed his advice to fire Reese and Terlecky, who Castricone said, “did nothing but love, nurture and educate our children.”
Gary Heavner voted with Castricone to keep the principals.
Calls to the school district were not returned and attempts to contact Reese and Terlecky were unsuccessful as of press time.