Former LI Principal Charged W/ Falsifying Employment Applications: DA

MINEOLA, NY — A former principal of James H. Vernon School in the Oyster Bay-East Norwich Central School District was charged after she was accused of submitting falsified employment applications to the school district, Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said Monday.

Jessica Bader, previously known as Jessica Zimbler, 52, of Nesconset, also submitted a false application to the Online Application System for Educators (OLAS), the DA said. She omitted the prior suspension of her teaching certificate after she engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a student in 2005, prosecutors said.

Bader was arraigned on charges of three counts of first-degree offering a false instrument for filing and three counts of second-degree offering a false instrument for filing. Bader was released on her own recognizance. If convicted, she faces up to 1-and-one-thirds to 4 years in prison. She is due back in court on April 11.

Bader is represented by Joseph Carbone. Carbone did not immediately respond to Patch's request for comment.

"After engaging in an inappropriate relationship with a student at East Meadow High School, this defendant was given a second chance and the option to return to the teaching profession in the future," Donnelly said in a news release. "Bader squandered that chance and again exercised poor judgment when she allegedly concealed her certificate suspension on applications for two high-level positions in the Oyster Bay-East Norwich Central School District. Parents across Nassau County entrust their children to the care of educators and administrators every day. These professionals must be held to the highest standards of honesty and integrity."

In March 2022, Bader applied for a position as the director of humanities at the Oyster Bay-East Norwich Central School District and was hired two months later, authorities said. Bader later applied and was hired for the principal position at James H. Vernon School in July 2023, officials said.

For both positions within the school district, Bader submitted online applications with OLAS which asked if an applicant was ever required to resign from a position, resigned from a position as an alternative to facing charges or termination, and whether an applicant had ever had a professional certificate suspended by a government agency, the DA said.

Bader falsely answered "no" to those questions on the OLAS online application, which she submitted for each job she held in the school district, investigators said.

Bader also filed a separate electronic application directly to the school district for the director of humanities position in which she falsely answered a question asking if she had ever been asked to resign rather than be discharged or denied tenure, prosecutors said.

Bader was also accused of omitting her previous employment at East Meadow High School, where she was the subject of disciplinary action, from her applications, authorities said.

Bader was previously known as Jessica Zimbler and had been an English teacher at East Meadow High School from 1999 to 2005, officials said. In June 2005, she was asked to resign or face disciplinary action after engaging in an inappropriate relationship with a student, the DA said.

Bader resigned and the allegations were referred to the New York State Department of Education for a disciplinary hearing, Donnelly said. The Department of Education suspended Bader’s teaching certificate for four years on Dec. 17, 2007, the DA said.

After her teaching certificate was reinstated, Bader worked at schools in Brooklyn and Queens and held an assistant principal position at a Queens middle school, authorities said.

Bader resigned from her position as principal at James H. Vernon School in September 2023, the DA said.

She surrendered to NCDA Detective Investigators on Monday, Donnelly said.