School principal in Holocaust fray rehired

MIAMI — A high school principal in Florida whose 2018 exchange with a parent about whether the Holocaust was “a factual, historical event” led to an uproar, his firing and a case before a judge, was reinstated Wednesday after a School Board vote.

The Palm Beach County School Board voted 4-3 to rehire the principal, William Latson, who was removed last year at Spanish River Community High School in Boca Raton after an email exchange with a student’s parent came to light. He will also receive full back pay of about $152,300, according to the board, which adopted the recommended order of an administrative law judge.

Latson will be transferred to a position in the district that is “commensurate with his qualifications,” the board decided. A spokeswoman for the district said he would not return as principal and instead would be assigned a position outside a campus setting.

“Many have condemned him as a Holocaust denier,” Latson’s lawyer, Thomas Elfers, said in a statement. “He isn’t. He never was. He is a great guy and a great educator.”

Latson wrote in one of the emails: “I can’t say the Holocaust is a factual, historical event because I am not in a position to do so as a school district employee.”

“I do allow information about the Holocaust to be presented and allow students and parents to make decisions about it accordingly,” he wrote. “I do the same with information about slavery.”