The Fort Wayne Community Schools board on Monday night gave Elmhurst Assistant Principal John Hester a three-day unpaid suspension, served during his administrative leave, after he was accused of choking a student earlier this month.

According to a Fort Wayne Police report, Hester approached the student at a pep rally Oct. 9 and told him he was going to jail. The report said the student tried to get around him, but Hester grabbed him by the neck, choking him.

The student said he didn't do anything to provoke Hester and had not been in trouble in school, according to the report. That same student was arrested five days later for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest after an incident at the school.

Hester was put on administrative leave after the incident, and returned to work Oct. 20. The unpaid suspension was for the dates of Oct. 12-14. Spokeswoman Krista Stockman said the other days he was suspended were paid days per his administrative contract.

Stockman said the board's action Monday completes the investigation into the incident.

Hester has been employed with the district since 1983 and was suspended before. In 2005, he was put on an unpaid suspension for five days while he was an assistant principal at Wayne High School.

According to a letter in his personnel file, he suspended a student and released that same student without contacting the parents.

It resulted in the disappearance of the student for four days.

After the incident, he was put on a monitored assistance plan for the remainder of the school year.

Also at the board meeting Monday night, the board voted to go ahead with $2 million in Qualified Zone Academy Bonds to pay for the next phase of the New Tech high school project at Wayne.

The project would finish the second story of the project, which was completed earlier this year. The total project is set to be done in four phases.

The bonds allow lenders to loan money to schools at zero percent interest rates - or close to that - in exchange for tax incentives from the federal government, according to Chief Financial Officer Kathy Friend.

State Superintendent Tony Bennett also attended the FWCS board meeting, where he commended the board for its in-depth discussion on student achievement after hearing reports on the high school reinvent program, accountability and the Balanced Scorecard, which is an active measure of the district.

“I'm going to leave here charged by the … rich discussion about what matters,” Bennett said.

Bennett was invited by the board specifically to hear the Balanced Scorecard report.