STATE OF FLORIDA DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

BREVARD COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD, )

)

Petitioner, )

)

vs. ) CASE NO. 95-4242

)

RONALD H. YOUMANS, )

)

Respondent. )

)

RECOMMENDED ORDER

Pursuant to notice, the Division of Administrative Hearings, by its duly designated Hearing Officer, Mary Clark, held a formal hearing in the above- styled case on December 11-14, 1995, in Melbourne, Florida.

APPEARANCES

For Petitioner: Benjamin B. Garagozlo, Esquire

Anderson and Garagozlo

33 Parkhill Boulevard

West Melbourne, Florida 32904

For Respondent: Virginia B. Townes, Esquire

Peter L. Pollock, Jr., Esquire Akerman, Senterfitt and Eidson Post Office Box 231

Orlando, Florida 32802 STATEMENT OF THE ISSUES

On August 2, 1995, David E. Sawyer, Superintendent of the Brevard County School District, filed a petition for dismissal of Respondent, Ronald H. Youmans, and termination of his continuing contract. The petition alleges that Respondent Youmans, a teacher and band director in the Brevard County school district, engaged in certain sexual acts with two female students between 1975 and 1981, and made inappropriate and sexually suggestive telephone calls to a third female student on or about January 6-8, 1994.

The ultimate issue for disposition in this proceeding is whether the petition for dismissal and termination should be granted. Since Respondent argues that the school board's action is barred by laches, that legal issue must also be addressed.

PRELIMINARY STATEMENT

Respondent, through counsel, responded to the petition for dismissal and requested a formal proceeding pursuant to section 120.57(1), Florida Statutes. Thereafter, the school board forwarded the case to the Division of Administrative Hearings.

The hearing was set and continued once, for good cause, before proceeding as described above. Various prehearing motions addressed discovery and evidentiary disputes. Some of these motions were disposed of in prehearing conferences or telephone hearings and the disposition is reflected in orders that are part of the record in this case. Other motions were taken up at the commencement of the formal hearing and rulings were made as reflected in the transcript of the hearing.

At hearing the school board presented the testimony of these witnesses: Respondent Youmans, Jaime Robinson, Jeanne Pecha, Rebecca Hall, Lisa Maravitch Cullen, Michelle F. Stallings, Scott Schuler, Audrey Denise Gheen, Katherine Kelly Hunan, Mary Harvey, Lori Glass-Niblack, John Carter, Barbara Kaufman, Janis Lenay Merrill Nelson, Kerry Graham, and Toni Glass-Moore.

Respondent Youmans testified in his own behalf and presented these additional witnesses: Lisa Youmans-Espy, Lisa Guthrie, Michael T. LeClerc, Cody Jackson, Mary O'Brien, Eileen Bailey, Linda Barrelle, Angela Michelle Barrelle Kowalksky, Carol Diesel, Leanne Ingram, Tracie Flemming, Frances Youmans, Alice Edwards, James Bishop, Jr., Raul Reyes, Bernice Thrasher, Jane Lichte Johnson, Ann Ford, Faye Browning, Katherine Kelly Hunan, Eugene Carter, Barbara Mara, Ph.D., Ned Keller, Mark Youmans, Paul Smith, and John Kuntz.

Deposition testimony of Terri McGuire and Tracey Murray was offered jointly by both parties; without objection, these additional depositions were offered by Respondent Youmans: Jessica Sweeney, Karen Magherusan, Lauren Fleming Anthony, Joann E. Pitzer, Donna Ferrier, Linda Morella, Joseph Morella and Brenda Probst.

The following exhibits were received in evidence: Petitioner's nos. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10b, 11, 12, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, and 22; Respondent's

exhibit nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19.

Respondent's exhibit no. 7, Dr. Mara's report, was taken under advisement and is received in evidence now. The report and Dr. Mara's testimony were careful professional observations and opinions primarily related to Ronald Youmans' psychological status at the time of evaluation in August and September 1995. As such, they were only remotely relevant to the issues in this proceeding but were nonetheless considered with the testimony and exhibits described above.

The transcript was filed on March 29, 1996, and by agreement the parties filed their proposed recommended orders and closing arguments on May 10, 1996. Findings of Fact proposed by each party are discussed in the attached appendix.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Respondent, Ronald H. Youmans (Youmans), was born July 28, 1948. Educated in Tennessee with a Bachelors degree in Music Education, he moved to Titusville, Brevard County, Florida in 1972 with his wife, Frances (Fran) and his then two-year-old daughter, Lisa. He assumed the position of music teacher/band director at Jackson Middle School in Titusville, for the Brevard County School District, for the 1972-73 school year.

   
   

2. Youmans continued as a music teacher/band director under a continuing contract in the Brevard County School District for twenty-three years, until his suspension or reassignment in 1995. He moved from Jackson Middle School to Titusville High School in 1981, and then to Cocoa High School in 1987.

3. Throughout his twenty-three year career Youmans received excellent performance ratings from his superiors. He participated actively in band- related programs: taught summer recreation band and jazz band, served as judge in state-wide band competitions, led the Bicentennial Band in 1976, and taught private music lessons along with his wife, Fran, at Jack's Music Store in Titusville.

   
   

4. His bands and his students excelled; they marched in parades, participated in band contests and won awards and high praise from parents and peers. From witnesses for both parties in this proceeding there was an outpouring of appreciation of Youmans' talent as a band director.

   
   

5. The Youmans family expanded to include a second daughter, Karen, born in 1976 and a son, Mark, born in 1977. The family was well-known and well-liked in the community. A simple visit to the mall would become a social event as former and existing students or their parents would greet and chat with the Youmans.

   
   

6. The position at Jackson Middle School was Youmans' first teaching job. While band director there, Youmans was in his 20's and early 30's and "related" to his students. A coterie of adoring and particularly talented students, mostly girls, gravitated to his band room to "hang out" before and after school. Some helped out by filing music or performing similar clerical tasks; they were called "band-aides." Early on in his term at Jackson Middle School, Youmans became known as "Yogi" to his students. He did not view the nickname as a sign of disrespect and he enjoyed his obvious popularity, which popularity plainly contributed to the success of his music program. To the students, "Yogi" made band fun; he also made them work hard and they were successful. Band was like a big family; parents became loyal supporters and provided valuable volunteer services.

   
   

7. The inner circle of students was known as the pet group. At some point Youmans got upset about the notoriety of the "pet situation" and he made up a pet application form and told students if they wanted to apply they would be instantly admitted into the "Pet Club."

   
   

8. Fran also interacted with the students. She and the Youmans children attended band events; Lisa, starting around four years of age, marched in parades and practiced marching with the band. Fran taught private lessons to some students and was a youth leader at church. Some students, therefore, gravitated to the Youmans' home as well as to the band room; they dropped in to visit the family, sometimes baby-sat, ate dinner or spent the night. They visited Fran and gave her a baby shower when she was undergoing a difficult pregnancy with daughter, Karen, in 1976.

   
   

9. Some of the interaction between the students and their band director was overtly physical: they gave him back rubs and back scratches and sat on his lap, gestures which Youmans avowed were directed to an avuncular or "Santa" figure and nothing more. Youmans was then, and still is, short and heavy-set.

   
   

10. Some verbal interaction, or banter, between Youmans and his students was sexual in nature. A heavy-bosomed girl was called "Boom-Boom." "Twanging" was coined as the term for a girl going bra-less. To a girl named Jeannie, Youmans said, "I dream of Jeannie in a cellophane bikini." To another girl who had said that her glands were swollen, Youmans responded, "It's about time."

11. Other interaction with the students was simply jejune. Youmans signed some yearbooks with his nickname, "Yogi", with a small valentine in lieu of the dot over the "i." One comment by Youmans in a girl's yearbook was "We're still going steady." The students bought him a pair of red socks with the word "sex" in small white letters which enlarged when the socks were worn. He wore the socks at the students' urging and the band was awarded "superiors" at the band festival. Thereafter, he wore them every year for the contest.

    
    

    Shelley

    
    

12. Michelle Kerr (now, Michelle Kerr Stallings, or Shelley) was born March 3, 1963. At the end of her sixth grade in Titusville, she was in Youmans' summer recreation band. As a seventh grader at Jackson Middle School she enrolled in Youmans' band class. She was a quiet and attentive student, a very good clarinet player and one of the inner circle of students who hung around Youmans before and after school.

    
    

13. Shelley also took private lessons from Fran at the music store and was in Fran's youth group at church. Shelley "bonded" with the Youmans family and spent time with them at their house, or in the early days - trailer, and on family outings. She baby-sat and sometimes spent the night.

    
    

14. In 1976, in the second semester of Shelley's seventh grade, when she was in Youmans' office, usually after school and alone, the back rubs and lap- sitting escalated to kisses. At some point at the end of the seventh grade, Shelley and another band student, Barbara Kaufman, were visiting the Youmans' trailer. They had eaten dinner and the two girls were doing the dishes. Fran was not around. Youmans took turns with the two girls, taking one, then the other around the wall partition and hugged and kissed them.

    
    

15. During the summer of 1976, Youmans kissed and fondled Shelley's breast or vagina on several occasions, at school or at the Youmans' home. She felt scared and confused, but trusted and loved him.

    
    

16. Shelley knew Barbara Kaufman had a crush on him as well and she believed Youmans was also hugging and fondling Barbara. At the end of the summer when Barbara returned from her vacation, the two girls were at the playground at Coquina Elementary School near where they both lived. Shelley wanted to know how far Youmans had gone with Barbara. She tried to ask Barbara whether he ever lifted up her shirt, but had a hard time saying it and just gestured with her hands until Barbara insisted that she explain what she was asking.

    
    

17. Shelley continued in band in the eighth grade. After school started in the fall, on an occasion after school hours, Youmans told Shelley he wanted to show her something. He took her to the band office and removed her pants and underwear and performed oral sex on her. Fondling and oral sex between Youmans and Shelley continued through her eighth grade year.

    
    

18. The first act of sexual intercourse between Youmans and Shelley occurred when she was sixteen, in high school and driving a car. They met at a Burger King out by the beach and drove in her station wagon to the beach. She wore a bathing suit with shorts and a shirt over it. They had intercourse after oral sex, with the seats down in the station wagon. Afterwards they returned to the Burger King where Youmans left in his own vehicle.

19. Sexual intercourse between Youmans and Shelley occurred approximately six times over the years until 1984. The occasions included a time when Shelley was spending a week in her parent's recreational vehicle parked out at Jetty Park at the beach. Youmans visited her the first night, and after that night Lisa Youmans came out to spend the week with Shelley. On another occasion around 1982, Youmans suggested that he and Shelley drive to Daytona Beach so he could take her out in public to dinner. They drove to Daytona but the restaurants were crowded so he checked into a Howard Johnson's motel, where they had intercourse.

    
    

20. Other occasions included when Youmans was alone in his home and when Shelley was staying out at the beach in a motel.

    
    

21. During this period, particularly during the earlier years, Shelley remained close to the Youmans family and was included in family outings, sometimes overnight trips. She loved Youmans and he told her he loved her. She also loved Fran and the kids and felt part of their family.

    
    

22. The end of the sexual relationship between Youmans and Shelley occurred in 1984. Karen Youmans was having a birthday party and Shelley brought her a present. The party was winding down and Youmans announced he had to go pick up something at the band room. To Shelley, this was a cue for her to call him or meet him there. She left the party a short while later and found him in the band room. They hugged and kissed and Youmans suggested they leave the band room because a family friend, John Kuntz, was the security guard and lived in the security trailer at the high school. They left the school and drove around.

    
    

23. As they returned to the high school parking lot, Fran was parked in the lot. She drove her car really fast toward the couple, then squealed her tires and left. Shelley knew Fran was upset. She got in her car and went to the house of her friend, a co-employee at a bank where Shelley was working. Shelley was distraught and told her friend that Fran Youmans had accused her of having an affair with Mr. Youmans and had tried to run into them.

    
    

24. Later that evening Youmans appeared in his car outside the friend's house. Shelley went out to talk to him and he told her Fran had thrown his clothes out and he was going to spend the night at a hotel. She did not go to meet him there.

    
    

25. By this time Shelley had started dating, having had, at age eighteen, a several-month sexual relationship with a fifty-year-old man, Fran's boss at a printing company and a friend of the Youmans family, a man Fran described as a "Don Juan." In 1985 Shelley dated Scott Schuler, a person she liked and trusted. After dating him approximately five or six months she confided in him about the relationship with Youmans.

    
    

26. Scott Schuler noted that Shelley was very upset when she told him about Youmans. She was shaking and agitated, and hesitated to share the information. He spoke to a priest about her and she also spoke to the priest at Schuler's urging. She did not pursue counselling at this time because she was not ready.

    
    

27. After 1985 Shelley had intermittent contact with the Youmans family. Fran was invited to Shelley's wedding shower held by Shelley's mother and sister in 1986. Fran called Shelley and said she wanted to be back in her life, to watch her kids grow up. Fran printed the birth announcement for Shelley's first

    child at Fran's print shop. The family came to visit Shelley at the hospital when she had her first child in 1989 and sat behind her in church at her second child's baptism in 1992.

    
    

    Barbara

    
    

28. Barbara Kaufman was very different from Shelley Kerr, although Barbara, too, was a talented clarinet player in Youmans' band. The same age, or a few months older than Shelley, Barbara was in the same grade as Shelley. Barbara was outgoing, fun-loving and even brash, but a well-focused music student. She was a drum major. Although Barbara and Shelley were both in the close pet circle, they had different best friends.

    
    

29. Barbara also took music lessons from Fran and sometimes Youmans at Jack's Music Store.

    
    

30. Youmans commenced a sexual relationship with Barbara around the same time as with Shelley, at the end of the girls' seventh grade. Once in the school cafeteria she burned her tongue on hot food and commented on this when the pets were gathered after lunch in the band room. Youmans told her to stick out her tongue and he would kiss it.

    
    

31. Barbara's account of the kissing and hugging at the Youmans' trailer after dinner is very similar to Shelley's. Barbara felt Youmans cared very deeply for her and he told her she was special to him and that he loved her. She also loved him.

    
    

32. During the summer of 1976 Youmans French-kissed Barbara in his band office when they were alone. This became a regular activity. Before she left for vacation he gave her three five-by-seven photographs of him directing the band or posing with the Jackson Middle School drum. She put them in frames and took them with her to Michigan because Youmans told her to think of him while he was gone.

    
    

33. When she returned from vacation at the end of the summer, Barbara saw Shelley at the swings on the playground at Coquina Elementary School. After Barbara learned that Shelley's involvement had gone beyond the kissing and hugging, Barbara was very jealous. She rode her bicycle home and called Youmans at the band room. When she learned he was there she rode her bike to the school to confront him with what she learned from Shelley.

    
    

34. Youmans reassured her that Shelley meant nothing to him. He hugged and kissed Barbara and fondled her breasts. He told her he loved her and someday they would get married.

    
    

35. As drum major, Barbara was sometimes required to direct the band in parades and at school. She spent time with Youmans, in practice or alone. During Barbara's eighth grade at Jackson Middle School the relationship with Youmans developed into oral sex, in the band room, in the band office and sometimes in the back room of the music store when she was having a lesson.

    
    

36. Barbara confided to Kerry, one of her close girlfriends, that she and Youmans were having a relationship, oral sex, but no intercourse. Kerry was a year younger than Barbara and is the sister of Barbara's current fiance. On several occasions Kerry observed Youmans drive by on his motorcycle or other

    vehicle and visit with Barbara in the back yard. When Barbara confided in Kerry, Kerry felt that Barbara was happy with the relationship and proud of Youmans.

    
    

37. Youmans specifically told Barbara not to tell another girlfriend, Brenda Probst, of the relationship. Brenda was Barbara's best friend and Barbara believes Brenda would have immediately told her father.

    
    

38. Brenda was aware that Barbara spent a lot of time with Youmans but at the time she assumed it was because Barbara was so involved with the band and was the drum major. Barbara told Brenda that Barbara would go back to the band room in the late evening or that Youmans stopped by her house on the way home sometimes, but Brenda did not see this herself.

    
    

39. The relationship between Barbara and Youmans ended shortly after she entered high school and the opportunity for getting together diminished. Unlike Shelley, Barbara did not visit the Youmans family and was at their home on only a few occasions.

    
    

40. In 1992, after high school, and after Barbara left and returned to Brevard County and was working with a church choir, she went to Cocoa High School to visit Youmans and to try to get some trumpet players for her choir's Memorial Day celebration. They discussed their lives generally; Barbara showed him pictures of her new house; they compared cars and she bragged about her cellular phone; he talked about his daughter, Lisa. Barbara got to the point of discussing her mother's death in an automobile accident and she started to cry. Youmans also cried and told her he was sorry if he ever caused her any emotional problems.

    
    

41. This, Barbara believed, was a reference to their prior relationship, which she still considered a love situation, a special thing and a bond between them. Youmans' apology upset her and confused her. She left the band room and called her friend, Brenda, on her car phone, very upset and crying hysterically. Barbara told her friend about the encounter with Youmans and about the sexual relationship that she had believed was a love relationship. Brenda tried to calm her, but commented, "He molested you." In a subsequent conversation Brenda urged Barbara to go to a counselor.

    
    

    The "Hidden Camera"

    
    

42. Jamie Lee Robinson was born March 16, 1979. In January 1994 she was a band student in Youmans' Cocoa High School band. She was a talented clarinet player and attended the all-state band festival in Tampa, Florida with Youmans and other band students.

    
    

43. Jamie shared a hotel room with Jessica Sweeney, a band student from Cocoa Beach High School.

    
    

44. On the morning of the first day, Youmans rang Jaime's room to make sure she was awake and getting ready. Jessica answered the phone and handed it to Jaime. Youmans told her that he had a camera in the room to find out whether the kids were behaving and he could see everything she did and wore. This troubled her but she was still half-asleep. She told her roommate about the call and Jessica tried to reassure her that there could be no such camera in the room.

45. Later, Youmans called again as Jaime was getting dressed and buttoning her blouse. He told her to button her blouse because he could see everything. This completely unnerved her and she began looking for the camera. At some point she and Jessica discussed whether the fire or smoke alarm apparatus with a blinking light was really a camera.

    
    

46. Still later, Youmans called the room again. This time Jaime was fully dressed, and when Youmans told her that he could still see everything and she needed to get dressed, she realized she had been duped.

    
    

47. The episode embarrassed Jaime and for the rest of the trip she dressed in the bathroom or under the covers. She did not consider the calls a joke and was terrified that she would be ridiculed by the other band students.

    
    

    Weighing the Evidence

    
    

48. Youmans vehemently denies having had a sexual relationship with Shelley or Barbara. He also denies that the phone calls to Jaime were any more than a big joke, enjoyed enormously by all of the students, including Jaime and her roommate.

    
    

49. Youmans and his wife, Fran, admit there was a cataclysmic domestic dispute the night Fran found him with Shelley in the high school parking lot. Youmans admits accepting and wearing the "sex" socks; he admits the back rubs and lap-sitting (although he insists the students only sat on his knees); he admits having signed yearbooks on occasion with a valentine over the "i;" and he admits at least tolerating an atmosphere where off-color jokes, slang and nicknames were exchanged.

    
    

50. It was also a fun and exciting atmosphere for his students, particularly those in his inner circle, the "pets" or "pet club." He was young, creative and very popular; the students sought his attention and affection. He was "teacher of the year" in 1975-76.

    
    

51. Based on the overwhelming evidence in this proceeding, none sought his attention and affection more relentlessly than Shelley and Barbara, two very different adolescent girls. The overwhelming evidence in this proceeding establishes that he took advantage of their devotion and committed the alleged sexual acts. Their devotion and loyalty insured that they would not "tell" or otherwise jeopardize their privileged status.

    
    

52. In making the ultimate finding of guilt the hearing officer has considered the credible testimony of the myriad witnesses who saw no sign of any impropriety in Youmans' twenty-three years of teaching in Brevard County. Many of these witnesses and even some who were called to testify on behalf of the school board failed to see some of the practices admitted by Youmans.

    
    

53. The fact that the sexual misconduct allegations took approximately twenty years to reach the school board has also been considered. Evidence that both Barbara and Shelley disclosed their experiences to several confidants, male and female, at times over the twenty years has been credited. There is no evidence that this is a situation in which two girls individually fabricated or conspired in a vicious lie about a beloved teacher.

    
    

54. Finally, Youmans has admitted that his "hidden camera" call or calls to Jaime were bad judgment. His version of the incident as a well-appreciated joke was not substantiated by any credible testimony.

    CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

    
    

55. The Division of Administrative Hearings has jurisdiction in this proceeding pursuant to section 120.57(1), Florida Statutes.

    
    

56. The Petition for Dismissal by the school board alleges Youmans' immorality and misconduct in office and his violation of the Code of Ethics of the education profession and Principles of Professional Conduct. As a member of the district instructional staff on continuing contract, Youmans may be suspended and subsequently discharged when charges, including immorality and misconduct in office, are sustained as provided in subsection 231.36(4)(c), Florida Statutes.

    
    

57. "Immorality" and "misconduct in office" are defined respectively in Rules 6B-4.009(2) and (3), Florida Administrative Code, as follows:

    
    

    1. Immorality is defined as conduct that is inconsistent with the standards of public conscience and good morals. It is conduct

       sufficiently notorious to bring the individual concerned or the education profession into public disgrace or disrespect and impair the individual's service in the community.

    2. Misconduct in office is defined as a violation of the Code of Ethics of the Edu- cation Profession as adopted in Rule 6B-1.001, FAC., and the Principles of Professional Con- duct for the Education Profession in Florida as adopted in Rule 6B-1.006, FAC., which is

       so serious as to impair the individual's effectiveness in the school system.

       
       

58. Rule 6B-1.001, Florida Administrative Code, comprises the Code of Ethics of the Education Profession in Florida:

    
    

    6B-1.001 Code of Ethics of the Education Pro- fession in Florida.

    1. The educator values the worth and dignity of every person, the pursuit of truth, devotion to excellence, acquisition of knowledge, and

       the nurture of democratic citizenship. Essen- tial to the achievement of these standards are the freedom to learn and to teach and the gua- rantee of equal opportunity for all.

    2. The educator's primary professional con- cern will always be for the student and for

       the development of the student's potential. The educator will therefore strive for pro- fessional growth and will seek to exercise the best professional judgment and integrity.

    3. Aware of the importance of maintaining the respect and confidence of one's colleagues, of students, of parents, and of other members of the community, the educator strives to achieve and sustain the highest degree of ethical conduct.

59. The Principles of Professional Conduct for the Education Profession in Florida in Rule 6B-1.006, Florida Administrative Code, include these relevant provisions:

    
    

    1. Obligation to the student requires that the individual:

       1. Shall make reasonable effort to protect the student from conditions harmful to learn- ing and/or to the student's mental and/or physical health and/or safety.

    * * *

    (c) Shall not intentionally expose a student to unnecessary embarrassment or disparagement.

    * * *

    (h) Shall not exploit a relationship with a student for personal gain or advantage.

    
    

60. The school board must prove the allegations of its petition for dismissal by a preponderance of the evidence. Sublett v. Sumpter County School Board, 664 So.2d 1178 (5th DCA 1995). The school board met its burden in this proceeding. Youmans' conduct with the three students at issue constituted immorality and misconduct in office.

    
    

61. Counsel for Youmans argue that the doctrine of laches bars the school board's petition. In their proposed conclusions of law, counsel acknowledge that Farzad v. Department of Professional Regulation, 443 So.2d 373 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983) might inhibit application of the doctrine in an administrative proceeding. No case in Florida suggests that the long-standing holding in Farzad should be disregarded and that the school board's petition should be dismissed. Moreover, Youmans failed to prove prejudice. He and three members of his family testified with very little hesitation regarding their observations and recollections. Almost fifty other witnesses also testified in this proceeding on behalf of one party or the other.

RECOMMENDATION

Based on the foregoing, it is recommended that the School Board of Brevard County enter its final order granting the Petition for Dismissal and terminating the continuing contract of Ronald H. Youmans.

DONE and ENTERED this 13th day of June, 1996, in Tallahassee, Florida.

MARY CLARK, 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 13th day of June, 1996.

APPENDIX TO RECOMMENDED ORDER, CASE NO. 95-4242

To comply with the requirements of Section 120.59(2), Florida Statutes, the following rulings are made on the parties' proposed findings of fact:

Petitioner's Proposed Findings of Fact.

The findings of fact proposed by Petitioner are adopted in substance, with the exception of certain numbered paragraphs which constitute more argument or discussion of the evidence than findings of fact. These paragraphs are excluded as being largely argumentative: 5.h, 15.F., 21-23.

Respondent's Proposed Findings of Fact.

The findings of fact by Respondent are all argument and discussion of the testimony. They have been considered, but the theories advanced in the argument, the proposed interpretations of the testimony, are rejected as contrary to the greater weight of evidence.

COPIES FURNISHED:

Benjamin B. Garagozlo, Esquire ANDERSON and GARAGOZLO, P.A.

33 Parkhill Boulevard

West Melbourne, Florida 32904

Virginia B. Townes, Esquire Peter L. Pollock, Jr., Esquire AKERMAN, SENTERFITT and EIDSON

Post Office Box 231 Orlando, Florida 32802

Dr. David Sawyer, Superintendent Brevard County Schools

2700 St. Johns Street Melbourne, Florida 32940-6699

Frank T. Brogan Commissioner of Education The Capitol

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0400

NOTICE OF RIGHT TO SUBMIT EXCEPTIONS

All parties have the right to submit written exceptions to the 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 consult with the agency that will issue the Final Order in this case concerning their 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: 95-004242

Orders for Case No: 95-004242