After a Union School District investigation, nothing was found to substantiate the accusations leveled against Lietz Principal Marty Lux, the letter said. Lietz was accused of swearing in front of students, using inappropriate hand gestures and pushing a teacher inside and outside of one of the school's portable classrooms.

Neither woman will be at Lietz in the coming school year. The teacher involved in the incident, Suzanne Schall, did not have her contract renewed for the 2004­05 school year, while Lux will be moving over to serve as principal at Guadalupe Elementary School this September. The transfer was scheduled before the alleged incident took place.

Meanwhile, some parents are still scratching their heads as to why a more formal investigation by the district, including interviews with the students who say they were present at the time, hasn't been conducted.

Karen Mullaly, director of administrative services for the district, was in charge of the investigation and said in an earlier interview that "the children will only be spoken to if needed" because the district didn't want to unnecessarily encumber, influence or confuse any student; that the investigation could be completed by talking to the adults who were present when the alleged incident took place; and it was a "personnel issue."

Neither Mullaly or Superintendent Phil Quan returned repeated phone calls for comment on the situation.

"We got a letter in the mail saying that they found that nothing happened," said Mike Garrett, whose daughter was in Schall's second-grade class at the time of the alleged incident. She was not interviewed by district personnel.

Neither Lux nor Schall will comment publicly, and both say they have retained attorneys.

Barbara Carmichael, a teacher who retired from Lietz this year and who was at one time the teachers' union representative at Lietz, has spoken out, trying to clear Lux's name.

Carmichael said that she believes Schall believed she was being "picked on" because of reprimands for unacceptable behavior, such as tardiness.

"She was frequently late to school," Carmichael said. "We are the third school that [Schall] had been at."

Carmichael said Schall had told her earlier in the school year "that she was being harassed" and said Lux had not even come into the classroom to evaluate her, but Lux was already addressing things that Schall needed to work on. Carmichael also said that Schall complained that Lux "talked to my old principal," to which Carmichael said, "Of course. That's a heads up. It's a way of telling someone, 'This is what you need to do to stay on here.' "

"Schall was not coming to staff meetings, and she was just going around complaining," Carmichael said. "She frequently was late and frequently not on her yard duty."

Carmichael also said that Schall confided in her, saying, " 'They're allowing me to resign in June.' Those were her words."

Yet Joanne Adams and Mark Calhoun, parents of two of Schall's students, said that Schall had received a note of commendation from Lux, and at least one other parent says that Schall has a folder with in-kind letters of praise from Lux and other administrators.

The ordeal goes back to the alleged incident that took place on May 7, an event many students say they witnessed.

Carmichael said she had been told by Lux that those students had recanted their stories. Parents of several students disagreed.

"No, my son hasn't changed anything," said Michele Watanabe of her son's account of the events.

"He hasn't recanted anything," said Calhoun of his son's recollection.

"I believe it happened. There would be no reason for the kids to lie about that," Garrett said. "All I know is the kids were shaken up that day."