A Plainview-Old Bethpage principal denied sexually harassing employees or making sexual remarks during an emotional disciplinary hearing this week — the first time she has publicly addressed those accusations against her.

Karen Heitner, principal of Pasadena Elementary School in Plainview, also alleged that her boss, Superintendent Mary O'Meara, pressured her to resign in a meeting held weeks after a PTA luncheon in which the district said Heitner inappropriately touched two female staffers.

The July 2024 meeting occurred the day before her mother’s funeral, Heitner testified Monday through tears. The principal said that O'Meara told her, “This is the time" to resign and that "everybody will understand," given her mother had just died.

As Heitner listened, she recalled coming to a decis

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