Los Angeles Unified School District paid the teacher at the center of the Miramonte child sexual abuse scandal $40,000 as part of a settlement in the wake of accusations of classroom behavior deemed “immoral” and “unprofessional” as well as a claim of “evident unfitness for service.”

In a financial settlement reached in June of 2011, the Los Angeles Unified School District paid Mark Berndt $23,980.10 in back pay and $16,019.90 in legal fees, according to documents obtained in a joint investigation by 89.3 KPCC and NBC4.

Under the agreement, Berndt, 61, is entitled to his full pension and retirement health benefits.

Among the accusations levied against Berndt in an administrative hearing:

• blindfolding students and allowing himself to be blindfolded;
• taping several students’ mouths as well as his own;
• spoon-feeding students “an unknown cloudy-colored liquid substance”;
• and feeding students cookies with “an unknown cloudy-colored liquid substance.”

Berndt “exhibited poor judgment, unprofessional and immoral conduct” during the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 school years, according to an Accusation and Statement of Charges filed by the district.

Full Coverage | About Miramonte | Timeline of Events

The former third-grade teacher also “touched several students by placing his arms around them,” according the document.

The allegations were levied in a proceeding before the Office of Administrative Hearings, a quasi-judicial court that hears administrative disputes.

Read the original story, watch video on NBCLosAngeles.com

Under the terms of the settlement, Berndt, who had been suspended without pay after teaching at Miramonte for 30 years, was retroactively reinstated to “paid status.”

The settlement, signed by Berndt, his attorney and an attorney for the district, also stipulates that “neither of the parties admits or concedes any of the claims, defenses, or allegations that were raised.”

The deal opened the door for Berndt to receive his full district pension and health benefits.

The district first started looking to get rid of Berndt about a year ago. In February of 2011, the district suspended Berndt from his teaching position at Miramonte and notified him that they intended to fire him.

In March, he objected to the dismissal and requested a hearing, which was set for October.

But in June, Berndt and the district settled.

The case first came to the public’s attention in January, when Berndt was arrested and held on $23 million bail for allegedly committing felony molestation with 23 children ages 6 to 10.

In early February, a second Miramonte teacher, Martin Springer, 41, was arrested on suspicion of committing lewd acts on a child.

Several days later, it came to light that former teacher’s aide Ricardo Guevara was convicted and sentences to 15 years in prison in 2005 for committing lewd acts with children.

LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy shut down the school for two days and moved the entire staff to another school that is not yet open. Miramonte reopened on Wednesday with an entirely new staff.

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Updated, 12:41 p.m. ET: LOS ANGELES -- New teachers greeted children and their parents Thursday when they returned to class at a Los Angeles elementary school rocked by the arrests of two longtime teachers on lewdness charges.

Miramonte Elementary School reopened Thursday, two days after the nation's second-largest school district closed the campus to hire a brand new staff. New employees include a retired principal and 88 teachers and support staffers who were recently laid off and were on a rehiring list.

Hundreds of children streamed through the front doors of the school under the watch of school police and some 100 protesters, who opposed the disruption of removing the entire staff for the rest of the school year.

The protesters, who included parents and students at Miramonte, held signs bashing the Los Angeles Unified School District, proclaiming "Give us our teachers back" and "LAUSD Shame on You."

"It's kind of hard," said Lorena Sorian, whose sixth-grader attends Miramonte. "You barely know your teacher, and they're gone. The kids don't know what's going on."

Sorian said the arrest of the two teachers made her think twice about enrolling her younger children at Miramonte next fall.

Sheriff's investigators, meanwhile, say they've found 200 additional bondage-style photos they believe were taken by one teacher who's accused of committing lewd acts on 23 children over a five-year period.

'Devastating'
Parents were invited to sit with their children in class Thursday to help with the transition. They will be allowed to attend the first 30 minutes of class.

Read Miramonte School Reopens Amid Child Abuse Investigation on NBCLosAngeles.com

"We want parents, as much as possible, to feel comfortable under the circumstances here," Tom Waldman, director of communications for the school district, told NBC News. "It's unprecedented. This is a very devastating thing for everybody here. Hopefully, over time, we'll get back to the business of learning."

New staff members attended orientation at the school Wednesday. They met with outgoing staff members to discuss lesson plans.

The removed staff members were transferred to Augustus Hawkins High School, a facility under construction in South Los Angeles. The Hawkins school is expected to open in the fall.

The outgoing staff members will be counseled and interviewed as part of the child abuse investigation. An independent commission led by retired California Supreme Court Chief Justice Carlos Moreno will conduct the district's investigation. Former students and staff members at Miramonte also will be interviewed.

Costs and counts
The new hires will cost the district $5.7 million, Waldman told the Los Angeles Times. The cash-strapped district will still pay the teachers and staff who were removed.

Allegations came to light last week with the arrest of Mark Berndt, 61, who was charged with committing lewd acts on 23 children, ages 6 to 10, between 2005 and 2010. He is being held in lieu of $2.3 million bail.

Later in the week, another teacher, Martin Springer, 49, was arrested on suspicion of committing lewd acts on children. Springer was charged with three counts of lewd acts upon a child under the age of 14, according to authorities.

Another student who accused Springer of fondling her reportedly recanted her story, NBC News reported. Springer was being held in lieu of $2 million bail.

A film processor provided authorities with 40 images that showed Berndt with children, some of whom had blindfolds over their eyes and spoons of a white substance held to their mouths. The substance was later identified as Berndt's semen.

NBCLosAngeles.com's Jonathan Lloyd, John Cadiz Klemack and Toni Guinyard contributed to this report, as did The Associated Press.

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Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies on Wednesday rushed to dispel rumors among Latino families that they would be deported if they come forward with information about child sexual abuse allegations at Miramonte Elementary School, where two teachers have been arrested.

"We've seen a reluctance among families to come forward on the advice of lawyers," Los Angeles County Sheriff's Sgt. Dan Scott told msnbc.com. "The sheriff has assured the community that a person’s legal status will not be questioned."

But many remain silent.

"People are afraid to talk. They are confused. They are scared," Jessica Dominguez, a Los Angeles lawyer who specializes in immigration cases, told msnbc.com. "Parents are worrying that if they speak out to authorities they will be deported, because some of them are undocumented."

Parents fume over accused LA teachers' pensions

The case erupted last week with the arrest of third-grade teacher Mark Berndt, 61, who was charged with committing lewd acts on 23 children, ages 6 to 10, between 2005 and 2010. He is being held in lieu of $2.3 million bail.

Parent Maria Guadalupe Garcia holds a sign reading in Spanish: "We don't want new teachers," as some parents protest replacing the staff, outside the Miramonte Elementary school in Los Angeles on, Feb. 8.

Later in the week, another teacher, Martin Springer, 49, was arrested on suspicion of committing lewd acts on children. Springer was charged with three counts of lewd acts upon a child under the age of 14, according to authorities.

Another student who accused Springer of fondling her reportedly recanted her story, NBC News reported. Springer was being held in lieu of $2 million bail.

Second teacher from LA school arrested

The allegations have stunned families like Sergio Blanco and his wife, Marisela Blanco. The Blancos have five boys. Their 9-year-old son, Andres, is a third-grader at the school. 

Marisela Blanco told NBCLosAngeles.com immigrant families now face the difficult decision of whether to speak out or not.

"They think something is going to happen, like the immigration will come to get them," Blanco said.

Read more on the Blanco family on NBCLosAngeles.com

The school will reopen Thursday with an entirely new staff hired from a list of recently laid off workers.

“The parents and children of Miramonte are going through an unspeakable nightmare," Lynn Tramonte, deputy director of America’s Voice Education Fund, said in a statement. "The fact that many of them are afraid to work with law enforcement only adds to their tragedy."

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