STATE OF FLORIDA EDUCATION PRACTICES COMMISSION CHARLIE CRIST, as Commissioner of Education, Petitioner, vs. CASE NO. 001-1494-C RAFAEL E. GARCIA, Respondent. ADMINISTRATIVE COMPLAINT Petitioner, Charlie Crist, as Commissioner of Education, files this Administrative Complaint .. against RAFAEL E. GARCIA. The Petitioner seeks the appropriate disciplinary sanction of the * Respondent’s educator's certificate pursuant to Sections 231.262 and 231.2615, Florida Statutes, and pursuant to Rule 6B-1.006, Florida Administrative Code, Principles of Professional Conduct for the Education Profession in Florida, said sanctions specifically set forth in Sections 231.262(6) and 231.2615(1), Florida Statutes. The Petitioner alleges: JURISDICTION 1. The Respondent holds Florida educator’s certificate 816341, covering the area of physical education, which is valid through June 30, 2006. 2. At all times pertinent hereto, the Respondent was employed as a resource teacher at Rickards High School, in the Leon County School District. MATERIAL ALLEGATIONS 3. During the 2000-2001 school year, the Respondent engaged in inappropriate physical contact with and inappropriate conversations with the following female students. 4. He told C.S., a female in the ninth grade, that he had no trouble with her wearing “short stuff” in his classroom. The Respondent called her over to his desk and told her to sit on his desk. He then began hitting her on her thigh. C.S. told him he had better quit or they would fight and he said, “Yeah, you need to stay after school so we can have a special kind of fight.” The Respondent then put his legs up on both sides of C.S. and began slapping her legs. He told her she had an attitude but that he liked them “feisty.” When he moved and let her down, he slapped her rear end as she walked away. bem p Raffel E=Garcia strate Cont lint UL 1 4 Page 2 of 3 0 EBA ESS For the next two classes, he winked at her and tried to flirt with her. When she moyeditogthe other side of the room, her grades began dropping although she contends that her work wAs' Of tNeSame quality. Ad 5. C.S. told another teacher about the incident, and apparently knowledge of this got back to the Respondent. One day when C.S. was coming into class, the Respondent said, “You don’t know me like that. I’ll fuck you up. Don’t be telling my damn business, I’ll fuck you up.” (sic) After the Respondent's termination at the end of the 2000-2001 school year, C.S. states that the Respondent has sent people to tell her that he was going to “get her.” She states that he curses constantly, using words like “shit,” “damn,” and “fuck.” 6. W.H. was a female in the ninth grade who was in the Respondent’s gym class. The Respondent called her over to him in class and stated, “Damn, you looking good today.”(sic) This made W.H. feel uncomfortable. Another day, he called her over, grabbed her hand and started tubbing it. A week later, he commented on how good she looked in her tights in gym class. If she did not talk to him, she stated that he would get an attitude as if he was ina Telationship with her. ; 7. W.K., a ninth grade female in the Respondent’s gym class, stated that the Respondent " would inappropriately talk to her about her boyfriend, saying that her boyfriend could not treat her like the Respondent could and that her boyfriend did not have money and things like the Respondent had. She states that the Respondent followed her home one day and was drivin, g very slowly behind her. The Respondent also asked W.K. to have sex with him. 8. One day, W.H. and W.K. went to Sargent Major Brown’s class because they felt uncomfortabie in the Respundent’s class as a result of the comments the Respondent made all the time. Sargent Major Brown had overheard some girls talking several days earlier about how the Respondent made comments about the girls in his class and says he, Sargent Major Brown, realized that there must be problems. 9. W.H. and W.K. subsequently reported the Respondent’s interactions with them to the principal. Later, they overheard the Respondent make this remark to a male student in class: “Those little bitches got me in trouble.” 10. In an unrelated incident, one day the Respondent would not let A.W., a female in the 10" grade, out of class to attend a track meet. Their coach had to come get them. The next day, the Respondent told A.W. that she had gotten him in trouble and he inappropriately grabbed her arm very tightly, causing her arm to hurt. 11. The Respondent was not reappointed to his teaching position following the 2000-2001 school year. STATUTORY VIOLATIONS COUNT 1: The allegations of misconduct set forth herein are in violation of Section 231.2615(1)(c), Florida Statutes, in that Respondent has been guilty of gross immorality or an act involving moral turpitude. By Rafaél E, Garcia Adieigjs ative- Complaint /7 Page'3-of3 tn ly fy Agel, ; COUNT 2: The allegations of misconduct set forth herein ar a s{Olation ofS, on 231.2615(1)(£), Florida Statutes, in that Respondent, upon investigation, hase foi pul of personal conduct which seriously reduces his effectiveness as an employee of the hooVpoard. COUNT 3: The allegations of misconduct set forth herein are in violation of Section 231.2615(1)(i), Florida Statutes, in that Respondent has violated the Principles of Professional Conduct for the Education Profession in Florida prescribed by State Board of Education. RULE VIOLATIONS COUNT 4: The allegations of misconduct set forth herein are in violation of Rule 6B- 1.006(3)(a), Florida Administrative Code, in that Respondent has failed to make reasonable effort to protect the student from conditions harmful to leaming and/or to the student’s mental health and/or physical safety. COUNT 5: The allegations of misconduct set forth herein are in violation of Rule 6B- _ 1.006(3)(e), Florida Administrative Code, in that Respondent has intentionally exposed a student to unnecessary embarrassment or disparagement. COUNT 6: The allegations of misconduct set forth herein are in violation of Rule 6B- 1.006(3)(g), Florida Administrative Code, in that Respondent has harassed or discriminated against a student on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national or ethnic origin, political beliefs, marital status, handicapping condition, or social and family background and has failed to make reasonable effort to assure that each student is protected from harassment or discrimination. WHEREFORE, the Petitioner recommends that the Education Practices Commission impose an appropriate penalty pursuant to the authority provided in Sections 23 1.262(7) and 231.2615(1), Florida Statutes, which penalty may include a reprimand, probation, restriction of the authorized scope of practice, administrative fine, suspension of the teaching certificate not to exceed three years, permanent revocation of the teaching certificate, or combination thereof, for the reasons set forth herein, and in accordance with the Explanation and Election of Rights forms which are attached hereto and made a part hereof by reference. EXECUTED onthis_ ff dayof MAY , 2002. Ca Charlie Crist, as Commissioner of Education, State of Florida

Docket for Case No: 02-002756PL