WILSON — Two teacher-coaches suspended last year after allegations of child endangerment will be headed back to their classrooms in the fall.

The Wilson School Board on Tuesday night voted, 6-0, to allow William M. Atlas and Thomas J. Baia to return to their teaching posts. They had been suspended from teaching since April 30, 2008.

During a meeting in the Wilson Middle-High School auditorium, the board did not engage in any discussion before issuing the reinstatement. About 80 members of the public attended the meeting, most of whom took part in several rounds of applause in support of the two men.

The board took no action on the teachers’ coaching positions, since no coaching spots are currently vacant, said board President Timothy F. Kropp.

Both men attended the meeting with family members and thanked the School Board and Superintendent Michael S. Wendt for supporting them throughout the ordeal of the hazing case.

“You finally brought me home,” Baia, a middle school math teacher, told the board.

“I thank you so much for the opportunity to return to teaching,” said Atlas, a physical-education teacher in the elementary school.

Atlas and Baia had faced child-endangerment charges stemming from an alleged incident of improper touching aboard a baseball team bus April 17, 2008. The charges were dropped by the Niagara County district attorney’s office July 6.

The coaches, along with their spokesman, have blamed the State Police for rushing to judgment in their investigation.

Some district officials saw Tuesday’s action as a chance for Wilson to move forward.

“Now it’s time to report some of the good things about Wilson, because hopefully the bad things are over,” Kropp said, addressing members of the media who were present.

The board’s action to reinstate Baia and Atlas was not required by state education law, even though the criminal charges were dismissed, Kropp said.

Three baseball players had been charged in the case. One pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor last month, while two others were found not guilty after a closed-door trial in front of Town Justice George R. Berger.

They initially faced felony charges, including forcible touching, but those were later reduced by prosecutors.

The parents of one of the players who was found not guilty also addressed the board.

They said their family, including their son, suffered because of what happened.

“Anyone want to talk about hell on earth?” the father said.

Her son was forced to eat lunch alone, use the restroom in the school nurse’s office and change classes three times in order to abide by an order of protection, the mother said.

After another person in the crowd asked whether there is legal recourse for the school against the State Police, the father of the other player found not guilty had strong words for the law enforcement agency.

“The New York State Police will be held accountable for how they treated students,” the father said.

Board member Donald DeLisi did not attend Tuesday’s meeting. Nearly all of the approximately 10 members of the public who spoke to the other board members expressed support for giving the teaching jobs back to Baia and Atlas.

Some suggested that the district begin a public relations campaign to rebuild the school’s reputation.

“John Q. Public has been misinformed,” said Maryanna Bull, who said she has two children in the district. “We need to pay attention to what our image is.”

Bull said she believes that the media created an inaccurate image of Wilson.

Several members of the public urged the district not to settle the civil lawsuits that have been threatened by the families of the alleged victims.

Wendt had recommended to the board that the teachers get their jobs back.

He praised the pair’s “impeccable records.”

“The truth,“ he said, “did finally permeate this community.”