Division of Administrative Hearings, Florida
Filed: May 11, 1992
The issue in this case is whether the Petitioner, the Pinellas County School Board, should suspend the Respondent, Patricia Albritton, from her employment as a teacher for three days without pay on charges contained in the April 20, 1992, letter from the School Superintendent, J. Howard Hinesley. The letter alleges that, during a class on March 18, 1992: (1) the Respondent picked up a chair in anger and slammed it to the floor, cracking one of the wooden chair legs; (2) a student sat in the chair a short time later, the chair leg broke off, and the student fell to the floor, striking his head; (3) when the student asked permission to go to the clinic, the Respondent refused, referring to the student's stupidity for sitting in the chair, and made a sarcastic remark when told that the student's head hurt; and (4) the Respondent used a profane term to refer to the class in the presence of students. The letter charges that the allegations constitute misconduct in office and just cause for suspension under Section 231.36(6)(a), Fla. Stat. (1991).Teacher showed poor judgement displaying anger at unruly pupils and refusing to allow one to go to health clinic but was not guilty of misconduct.
