MARIETTA - Frank Robinson, a Lassiter High School guidance counselor and coach accused of inappropriately touching a 17-year-old student, will keep his job, Cobb School Board members decided Wednesday.

In a split vote of 4-2, the board agreed to accept the recommendation made by a three-member tribunal that Robinson not be fired - as Superintendent Fred Sanderson had previously ordered. Alison Bartlett and Dr. John Crooks opposed the motion, and Holli Cash abstained.

Robinson could not be reached for comment. But his attorney, Warren Fortson, said Wednesday night that he was gratified by the vote.

"I thought that we did as good a job as could possibly be done to show that he is totally innocent, and he is. Cobb County is very fortunate to still have him in the school system," Fortson said.

Robinson will be able to return to work next Tuesday, after the President's Day holiday, but will be reassigned to a counselor position at a different high school, district spokesman Jay Dillon said.

Crooks said he voted against the recommendation because he was not convinced that the tribunal's findings were correct.

And it is unclear whether Robinson is completely in the clear. He was arrested by Cobb Police on Dec. 19 and charged with sexual battery based on the student's allegations. The status of the criminal case against Robinson was not revealed by press time Wednesday.

Cash said she abstained because the criminal case has not yet been resolved.

"I abstained just as a show of disdain for a law that puts us in a position to either cost an innocent man his job or allows a guilty, well let's say an innocent person their job or put a guilty person back in a classroom. And I think that's an impossible position," Cash said.

During a three-day hearing last month, Robinson tearfully denied ever doing anything inappropriate.

"In my whole 16, 17 years of education I've never done anything but help a student," Robinson testified.

On the first day of that hearing, the teen, who no longer attends Lassiter, testified that she had met with Robinson in his office on Dec. 8 for help with a scheduling change. The girl told the tribunal that Robinson put his hand in her lap, and touched her inappropriately. The entire incident lasted about a minute or two, she said.

The tribunal consisted of board chairwoman Lynnda Crowder-Eagle, vice chairwoman Cash, and Dr. John Abraham. In its decision, the tribunal was also split on what to do with Robinson. Crowder-Eagle and Abraham voted to reinstate him, but Cash also abstained from that vote, mainly because she was not able to review the court transcript before making a decision, she said.

The tribunal's recommendation said the school district, represented by Nina Gupta of Brock, Clay, Calhoun and Rogers, had failed to show "that the conduct alleged by the student in fact occurred."