STATE OF FLORIDA

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

BROWARD COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD, )

)

Petitioner, )

)

vs. ) CASE NO. 91-2839

)

DANITA WYNNE, )

)

Respondent. )

)

RECOMMENDED ORDER

This matter was heard by William R. Dorsey, Jr., the Hearing Officer designated by the Division of Administrative Hearings, on September 4, 1991, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

APPEARANCES

For Petitioner: Charles T. Whitelock, Esquire

Whitelock and Moldof

1311 Southeast Second Avenue Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316

For Respondent: Thomas W. Young, III, Esquire

FEA/United

118 North Monroe Street Tallahassee, FL 32399-1700

STATEMENT OF THE ISSUE

The issues is whether Ms. Wynne's employment as a speech therapist with the School Board of Broward County should be terminated for lack of the necessary emotional stability to carry out her duties.

PRELIMINARY STATEMENT

The Petition for Formal Proceedings was filed by the School Board of Broward County against Ms. Wynne on April 17, 1991. At the hearing the following persons testified on behalf of the School Board: Faye B. Henry; Sonia Bernard; Erma Lucille Sloan Harrison; Ellis James Dardeen; Lucy R. Thomas; Valoria W. Latson Ed.D.; Andrew Thomas; Shirley Logan; Mark Siegle and N. Benjamin Barnea, M.D. Ms. Wynne testified on her own behalf. During the hearing eight exhibits were entered into evidence on behalf of the School Board, and one on behalf of Ms. Wynne. No transcript of the hearing was prepared, and after the hearing both parties determined to waive the filing of proposed recommended orders. During the hearing the School Board withdrew the allegations in the Administrative Complaint concerning gross insubordination or willful neglect of duties and of absence without leave.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Ms. Wynne is a speech therapist, and has been employed by the School Board of Broward County as a speech and language therapist. She works with elementary age children on articulation, fluency, voice and hearing disorders. At times she works with students individually, at other times in groups of 4 to 5.

   
   

2. She obtained a professional services contract with the School Board on October 24, 1990, during the 1990-91 school year. It provides that she may not be dismissed during the term of the contract except for just cause, as provided in Section 231.36(1)(a), Florida Statutes, and that she is entitled to annual renewal of that contract under the provisions of Section 231.36(3)(e), Florida Statutes.

   
   

3. Ms. Wynne was first employed by the School Board in August of 1987, after her graduation from Indiana University. She has been the speech and language therapist at Castle Hill Elementary during the entire period of her employment by the School Board of Broward County.

   
   

4. Ms. Wynne's performance has been evaluated each year. Her evaluations have been satisfactory based on observation of her classroom teaching, through the evaluation conducted on May 8, 1990 for the 1989-90 school year.

   
   

5. Ms. Wynne began to exhibit unusual and bizarre behavior beginning at approximately the end of the 1989-90 school year, which continued into the first portion of the 1990-91 school year. Ms. Wynne had friendly relations with a number of people, including Lucy R. Thomas, the principal of Walker Elementary Magnet School who had interviewed Ms. Wynne for her teaching position in Broward County after her graduation from Indiana University, and who had helped her in obtaining her job and housing. They attended the same church. At about August of 1990, Ms. Thomas noticed that Ms. Wynne's behavior began to change: she lost weight, seemed withdrawn, and in several conversations indicated to Ms. Thomas that a musician at the church was "bugging her." Ms. Wynne asked Ms. Thomas to speak with the musician and tell him to leave her alone. She also indicated a belief that the minister and another church member had been driving by her home to spy on her.

   
   

6. Ms. Wynne had also had a close relationship with another teacher, Sonia Bernard, who is employed at the Sandpiper Elementary School. They had roomed together at Indiana University. Shortly after Ms. Wynne obtained employment with the School Board of Broward County Ms. Bernard also moved to Florida. Ms. Wynne was at Ms. Bernard's wedding and is godparent to Ms. Bernard's son. About a year ago Ms. Bernard noticed a marked change in Ms. Wynne's behavior. Ms. Wynne accused Ms. Bernard's husband of tapping her telephone and also maintained that the musician at church had tapped her phone and was following her. She aggressively questioned Ms. Bernard's six year old son in a manner that frightened him, asking him "why are you in my business." Ms. Bernard found Ms. Wynne's behavior to be paranoid.

   
   

7. Ms. Wynne also began to exhibit unusual behaviors at school. At first the behaviors were merely quirky. She told the principal of the school, Dr. Valoria Latson, that she thought the parents of the children she taught did not believe Ms. Wynne was doing a good job based on the children's behavior in class. Ms. Wynne also asked Dr. Latson to explain Ms. Wynne's job responsibilities to other staff members at the school during a staff meeting, when there was no reason for this to be done. In late March of 1990 there were

   teacher manuals missing from her room and Ms. Wynne expressed the idea that someone had stolen them, but they turned up in her room a week or so later and had not been stolen. About this time she began to express concern that children in the school and children from the neighborhood near the school were watching her. She expressed to Dr. Latson the belief that school staff members were listening in on her classroom through the intercom, when this was not the case. By July of 1990 she said she believed her classroom had been bugged. About this time she also expressed to other people at the school that she believed her home phone had been tapped, and that people around school were "discussing her business" out of her presence. She believed that her home telephone conversations were being repeated by teachers in the teacher planning room, although Ms. Wynne was never specific as to any teacher who repeated anything, or about the content of any conversations which were repeated. She went so far as to have the phone company check her line for bugs or taps.

   
   

8. Eventually Ms. Wynne expressed to Ms. Erma Harrison, a clerk at the school, the belief that her car had been bugged and that people were following her. She would at times appear at the home of Ms. Harrison and demand to know "what was going on" in a manner which was so bizarre as to frighten Ms. Harrison's children. Ms. Harrison eventually had her telephone number changed to avoid harrassment by Ms. Wynne.

   
   

9. By about October of 1990, Ms. Wynne expressed the belief that the young children in her class, ages 5 and 6, had bugged her classroom, and knew things about her personal life. She believed that the children knew who her boyfriend was, because the children were making hissing sounds in class. Her boyfriend did own a pet snake, and she believed that the children were making the hissing sounds as a way of communicating to her that they knew who her boyfriend was; there was no way for them to know anything about Ms. Wynne's personal life. She also expressed the belief that the children were taking pictures of her lesson plans with a camera placed in the light bulbs of her classroom.

   
   

10. Matters came to a head in late October of 1990. On October 26, 1990, Ms. Wynne had a conference with the principal of the Castle Hill Elementary School, Dr. Latson, and the Assistant Principal, Ms. Weissberg, during which she announced that she would be immediately resigning from her position with the School Board of Broward County and would bring them a typed letter of resignation that day. She did not submit such a letter. The following Monday, Ms. Wynne was absent from school. She telephoned on Tuesday, October 30th to say that "she had it and was leaving," although no letter of resignation had been submitted.

    
    

11. On Friday, November 2nd, Ms. Wynne telephoned the school early in the morning to say that she would be late. Later, at approximately 11:30 a.m., an investigator for the School Board's Special Investigative Unit, Ellis Dardeen, telephoned the principal to report a conversation which he had had that morning with Ms. Wynne at his office. Ms. Wynne had come to the Special Investigative Unit to ask that an investigation be initiated as to why other teachers and students at Castle Hill Elementary School were talking about Ms. Wynne. When Mr. Dardeen asked what was being said, Ms. Wynne responded that students were talking about her parents, about her mother's home and about the basement in the home. When Mr. Dardeen asked what they were saying about the basement, Ms. Wynne merely shrugged and asked how students would know that her mother's home had a basement. When asked what the teachers at Castle Hill Elementary were saying about her, Ms. Wynne did not respond, but said that her neighbors and people at the grocery store were talking about her. Mr. Dardeen regarded this matter as so bizarre that he telephoned Dr. Latson to let her know about his

    meeting with Ms. Wynne. He also memorialized his conversation in a memorandum to the Director of the Office of Professional Standards, Mr. Ron Wright.

    
    

12. Ms. Wynne arrived at Castle Hill Elementary School at about 12:45 p.m. on November 2nd and asked for the rest of the day off. She told Dr. Latson that she had been evicted from her apartment and had been driving around "thinking." Dr. Latson asked Ms. Wynne about the status of her letter of resignation. Ms. Wynne declined to sign the standard resignation form used by the School Board. At this point, Dr. Latson was sufficiently concerned about Ms. Wynne to request the Associate Superintendent, Mark Siegle, to arrange for a psychological or psychiatric evaluation of Ms. Wynne, and asked that she not be assigned to the classroom until the evaluation was concluded.

    
    

13. The Office of Professional Standards prepared a memorandum which was delivered to Ms. Wynne placing her on administrative leave, with pay, as of Tuesday, November 6, 1990, pending the results of a psychiatric or psychological evaluation which would be performed by the School Board.

    
    

14. Associate Superintendent Siegle arranged with Dr. N. Benjamin Barnea, a board-certified psychiatrist who works with School Board employees, to see Ms. Wynne. He did so on November 8, 1990, and his report of that meeting was prepared for Associate Superintendent Siegle on November 12, 1990. Dr. Barnea also saw Ms. Wynne on December 3rd and December 17, 1990. Dr. Barnea found Ms. Wynne to be suffering from a thought disorder which resulted in delusions. In order to determine whether her behavior had an anatomical basis he had a CAT scan of the brain and an EEG performed, but neither showed any anatomical problems. Dr. Barnea recommended a course of treatment for Ms. Wynne's behavior through the use of drugs which can be helpful in correcting delusional thought processing, although they are not always effective. There is no other course of treatment available for these sort of thought disorders. Dr. Barnea believes that Ms. Wynne may have had an underlying problem for some time but was able to function until some precipitating event occurred which manifested the thought disorder.

    
    

15. Part of the difficulty in treating a thought disorder is that the patient has no insight into the fact that there is a problem, but rather has a fixed belief that they have no psychological problem. Dr. Barnea's testimony was convincing that while suffering from delusional thought processing, Ms. Wynne cannot be in a position of responsibility over students as a teacher. Any event or statement by children could be misinterpreted and could result in acting out, which could be dangerous to the students. Those suffering from delusional thought processing exhibit a spectrum of behaviors, from docility to violence. It is not possible to predict the type of behavior which the person suffering from this problem will exhibit. She has already frightened children of Ms. Bernard and Ms. Harrison, see, Findings 6 and 8. Without drug treatment there is no reason to believe that there will be a remission of the psychological problem. The medications Dr. Barnea would try include neuroleptics such as Trilafon. Ms. Wynn refused to take the medication which Dr. Barnea offered to prescribe.

    
    

16. Ms. Wynne testified that after seeing Dr. Barnea she had consulted another psychiatrist, Dr. Patnelli, who had given her a prescription for Trilafon which she had been taking for approximately ten days before the hearing. She also testified that she had only informed her attorney of this treatment the day before the hearing. She expressed no faith in the utility of taking the drug, but was willing to do so in order to help keep her job.

17. No prescription scrip or actual medication was exhibited at the hearing. It is impossible to know whether Ms. Wynne would take the medication faithfully, or whether it would have any affect upon her condition.

    
    

    CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

    
    

18. The Division of Administrative Hearings has jurisdiction over this matter. Section 120.57(1), Florida Statutes (1989).

    
    

19. The rules of the School Board of Broward County include Rule 6Gx6- 4.004, Florida Administrative Code, which provides:

    
    

    Each applicant for employment (part-time and temporary personnel included) shall complete and sign the report of medical history which is part of the application blank provided by personnel services. Further, at any time in the future when it shall be deemed advisable,

    an employee may be required by the superintendent to take a physical or mental examination.

    
    

20. The commentary to the rule also provides that "where the employee is found to be unable to function satisfactorily, personnel services shall take appropriate action."

    
    

21. The action taken by the School Board of Broward County as the result of the medical report by Dr. Barnea has been to separate Ms. Wynne from employment for incompetency under Section 231.36(1)(a), Florida Statutes.

    Incompetency is defined in Rule 6B-4.009, Florida Administrative Code, as

    
    

    inability or lack of fitness to discharge the required duty as the result of inefficiency or incapacity . . .

    
    

22. Incapacity in turn is defined in Rule 6B-4.009(1)(b)(1), Florida Administrative Code, as "lack of emotional stability."

    
    

23. The testimony at final hearing concerning Ms. Wynne's behavior, along with the testimony of Dr. Barnea, have proven that Ms. Wynne lacks the emotional stability necessary to function as a teacher due to her thought disorder.

    
    

24. This case is analagous to that of Boedy v. Department of Professional Regulation, 463 So.2d 215 (Fla. 1985). There the Supreme Court of Florida found that the State could require a physician to submit to a mental examination to demonstrate his ability to practice medicine with reasonable skill and safety under Section 458.331(1)(s), Florida Statutes (1981), and that compelling a physician to do so did not violate his privilege against self incrimination. The statute involved did not deal with an issue of guilt or innocence of misconduct, but with whether the physician was fit to practice medicine with

reasonable skill and safety. The matter at issue here is not one of misconduct, but of the ability of Ms. Wynne to hold a position of authority over young children in exercising the duties of her employment as a speech therapist.

Unfortunately, her thought disorder places any children who would be assigned to her class at unreasonable risk of harm which could result from unpredictable reactions by Ms. Wynne to those students. She is currently not competent to perform her duties as a teacher. Under Section 231.36(1)(a), Florida Statutes (1989), her employment by the School Board of Broward County may be terminated.

RECOMMENDATION

Based upon the foregoing Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, it is RECOMMENDED that the employment of Danita Wynne as a teacher by the School

Board of Broward County under the Professional Service Contract which she obtained on October 24, 1990, be terminated pursuant to the provisions of Section 231.36(1)(a), Florida Statutes, due to her mental incompetency.

DONE and ENTERED this 7th day of November, 1991, at Tallahassee, Florida.

WILLIAM R. DORSEY, JR.

Hearing Officer

Division of Administrative Hearings The DeSoto Building

1230 Apalachee Parkway

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1550

(904) 488-9675

Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 7th day of November, 1991.

Copies furnished:

Charles T. Whitelock, Esquire Whitelock and Moldof

1311 Southeast Second Avenue Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33316

Thomas W. Young, III, Esquire FEA/United

118 North Monroe Street Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1700

Virgil L. Morgan, Superintendent School Board of Broward County 1320 Southwest 4 Street

Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33312

Honorable Betty Castor Commissioner of Education Department of Education The Capitol

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0400

Sydney H. McKenzie, General Counsel Department of Education

The Capitol, PL-08

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0400

NOTICE OF RIGHT TO SUBMIT EXCEPTIONS:

All parties have the right to submit written exceptions to this Recommended Order. All agencies allow each party at least 10 days in which to submit written exceptions. Some agencies allow a larger period within which to submit written exceptions. You should contact the agency that will issue the final order in this case concerning agency rules on the deadline for filing exceptions to this Recommended Order. Any exceptions to this Recommended Order should be filed with the agency that will issue the final order in this case.

Docket for Case No: 91-002839

Orders for Case No: 91-002839