A New Jersey teacher who took a student to his home to rub “blessed cream” on the boy’s back is set to return to the classroom after an arbitrator reversed the Vineland School District’s decision to fire him.

State arbitrator Carol L. Laskin ruled that the district shouldn’t have fired Vineland High School South social studies teacher and head basketball coach Albert Porter for his inappropriate activities with the student, and instead issued a 120-day suspension, NJ.com reports.

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“I just thank God for his mercy and grace,” Porter told The Daily Journal. “And I’m just thankful.”

Laskin found Porter should be returned to teaching “as soon as practical” and Vineland School district spokeswoman Gia Messore said the district doesn’t plan to appeal the decision.

Porter is scheduled to return to class on March 8.

He was initially suspended on Jan. 19, just a day after two assistant coaches followed Porter and a student to Porter’s condo and reported the relationship to school officials, NJ.com reports.

Laskin found Porter took the student player to his condo after away games on Jan. 17 and Jan. 18, and “before driving him home, on both occasions, Porter lifted the back of (student’s) shirt and applied a natural muscle relief lotion. Porter referenced the ointment as ‘blessed cream’ and … expressed his belief that the cream provided a ‘spiritual benefit,’” according to the arbitrator’s ruling.

Porter told Laskin he was mentoring the child with his mother’s permission to take him home after games, and alleged he’s not the only coach to give students a lift home.

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The school board initially suspended Porter with pay, then without pay as it pursued termination, then reinstated pay again between September and October. Porter was a former teacher of the year with no prior disciplinary problems. He spent one period a day mentoring at-risk students with their parents’ permission, the Daily Journal reports.

The arbitrator found Porter “engaged in conduct unbecomingly” but said there was “no danger of Porter repeating this type of conduct, upon his return and assignment to duties consistent with a certification of a secondary teacher,” according to the news site.

And while Laskin felt Porter could be trusted, she issued an interesting caveat to his return.

“Porter should not be assigned an academic period as a ‘mentor’ or otherwise be (singled) out by administration to work, one on one, with ‘at-risk students,’” she wrote.

Laskin also knocked Porter down one notch on his union pay scale because he violated district polices, including prohibitions against “inappropriate conduct or the conduct unbecoming between a staff member and a student.” District policies specifically state “school staff shall not engage or see to be in the presence of a pupil beyond the staff member’s professional responsibilities.”

District policies also prohibit staff from transporting students, and while Porter had permission to take the boy home, he didn’t have permission to take the child to his condo for “blessed cream.”

“The arbitrator assigned to the case, after presentations by both the district and the teacher’s attorney, ruled in the district’s favor but did not agree on the termination,” Vineland school board member Tom Ulrich summarized for fellow board members at a November meeting.