STATE OF FLORIDA

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

LAWRENCE A. LONGENECKER, )

)

Petitioner, )

)

vs. ) CASE NO. 83-2290

)

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION and ) EDUCATION PRACTICES COMMISSION, )

)

Respondent. )

)

RECOMMENDED ORDER

Pursuant to notice, an administrative hearing was held before Diane D. Tremor, Hearing Officer with the Division of Administrative Hearings, on November 1, 1983, in Tampa, Florida. The issue for determination in this proceeding is whether petitioner is entitled to be issued a Florida teaching certificate.

APPEARANCES

For Petitioner: Lawrence D. Black, Esquire

152 Eighth Avenue Southwest Largo, Florida 33540

For Respondent: J. David Holder, Esquire

Berg & Holder

128 Salem Court

Post Office Box 1694 Tallahassee, Florida 32301

INTRODUCTION

In support of his position that he is entitled to issuance or reinstatement of a Florida teaching certificate, petitioner testified in his own behalf and presented the testimony of Jay Moore, the Executive Director of the Pinellas Classroom Teachers' Association. Also presented by the petitioner was the testimony, by way of deposition, of Dr. Alfred E. Fireman, a psychiatrist.

Testifying on behalf of the respondent was Donald L. Griesheimer, the Executive Director of the Education Practices Commission. Respondent's Exhibits 1 and 2 were received into evidence.

Subsequent to the hearing, counsel for the petitioner filed a post-hearing brief with attachments and counsel for the respondent filed proposed findings of fact, proposed conclusions of law and a proposed recommendation. To the extent that the parties' proposed findings of fact are not included in this Recommended Order, they are rejected as being either not supported by competent substantial evidence adduced at the hearing, irrelevant or immaterial to the issues in dispute or as constituting conclusions of law as opposed to findings of fact.

FINDINGS OF FACT

Upon consideration of the oral and documentary evidence adduced at the hearing, the following relevant facts are found:

1. Petitioner Lawrence A. Longenecker formerly held a Florida teaching certificate, and was employed as a science teacher at Madeira Beach Middle School in Pinellas County until January of 1978.

   
   

2. In January of 1978, administrative charges were brought against the petitioner by the Professional Practices Council (the predecessor to the Education Practices Commission) for the revocation of his teaching certificate. After a hearing before a Hearing Officer with the Division of Administrative Hearings, it was found that petitioner had made sexual advances toward three female students on four separate occasions during 1977 and that petitioner was thus guilty of personal conduct which seriously reduced his effectiveness as a school board employee. The Hearing Officer recommended, by order dated November 25, 1980, that petitioner's teaching certificate be permanently revoked. Professional Practices Council v. Lawrence Longenecker, DOAH Case No. 80-1276 (November 25, 1980).

   
   

3. By Final Order filed on February 2, 1981, the Education Practices Commission adopted the Hearing Officer's Recommended Order and permanently revoked petitioner's teaching certificate. Professional Practices Council v. Lawrence A. Longenecker, Case NO. 80-005-RT (February 2, 1981). No appeal was taken from this Final Order.

   
   

4. In approximately March of 1983, petitioner filed an application for a Florida Teaching Certificate, which application was denied by the Department of Education. Its "Notice of Reasons" for denial, filed on June 30, 1983, recited the events which formed the bases for the prior permanent revocation of petitioner's teaching certificate, and concluded that petitioner had failed to demonstrate that he is of good moral character, as required by Section 231.17(1)(e), Florida Statutes, and that petitioner had committed acts for which the Education Practices Commission would be authorized to revoke a teacher's certificate.

   
   

5. Petitioner was 28 and 29 years of age during the time of the acts which formed the basis for the prior certificate revocation. He is now 34 years old. Since 1978, he has obtained a Master's degree in personnel administration from the University of South Florida and has been employed in the area of retail management. He fees that he is now more mature and more wise and would like to return to his chosen profession of teaching school. During the pendency of the instant proceeding, petitioner visited Dr. Alfred Fireman for psychiatric counseling and evaluation on three occasions. It was Dr. Fireman's opinion that petitioner is psychologically fit to reenter the teaching profession provided that his behavior is monitored. He concluded that petitioner "was a suitable candidate for a probationary restoration of privileges."

   
   

6. The Education Practices Commission has never reinstated a former certificate or issued a new teaching certificate to an individual whose certificate had been previously permanently revoked.

   
   

   CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

   
   

7. The Education Practices Commission is delegated broad discretion in determining appropriate penalties in teacher disciplinary cases. When a

   certificate holder has been found guilty of the offenses enumerated in Section 231.28(1), Florida Statutes, the Commission has the authority to suspend a teaching certificate for a period of time not to exceed three years, to revoke a certificate for a period of time not to exceed ten years or to permanently revoke the certificate. The manner of reinstatement of those certificates which are suspended or revoked for a time certain is specifically set forth in the statutes. See Section 231.28(4)(a) and (b), Florida Statutes. As might be expected, the statutes are silent as to the reinstatement or reissuance of a certificate which has been revoked permanently. The Rules of the Department of Education do speak to the situation of a teacher against whom a complaint has been filed choosing to voluntarily surrender his certificate permanently. In that instance, the Commission is to issue an Order indicating that reapplication will not be considered. Rule 6B-11.04(1), Florida Administrative Code. It therefore follows that one who has had a teaching certificate permanently revoked after an administrative hearing is not entitled to a reissued or reinstated certificate.

   
   

8. Permanent revocation of a professional license is, indeed, a harsh penalty, hopefully exercised only in the most serious of instances. In this instance, the Commission chose to impose the most severe penalty available. Prior to the imposition of that penalty, petitioner was afforded a full administrative hearing, the right to file exceptions to the Recommended Order of the Hearing Officer and the right to appeal the Final order entered against him. That Final Order cannot now be challenged in this proceeding. Inasmuch as the Commission is statutorily authorized to deny an applicant a teaching certificate if the applicant has committed an act for which the Commission would be authorized to revoke a teaching certificate, and there is no other manner in which a permanently revoked certificate may be reissued or reinstated, petitioner's application should be denied.

RECOMMENDATION

Based upon the findings of fact and conclusions of law recited herein, it is RECOMMENDED that the Education Practices Commission enter a Final Order denying petitioner's application for a Florida teaching certificate.

DONE AND ENTERED this 9th day of March, 1984.

DIANE D. TREMOR

Hearing Officer

Division of Administrative Hearings The Oakland Building

2009 Apalachee Parkway

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1550

(904) 488-9675

Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 9th day of March 1984.

COPIES FURNISHED:

Lawrence D. Black, Esquire

152 Eighth Avenue SW Largo, Florida 33540

J. David Holder, Esquire Berg & Holder

128 Salem Court

Post Office Box 1694 Tallahassee, Florida 32301

Donald L. Greisheimer Executive Director

Education Practices Commission Room 125, Knott Building Tallahassee, Florida 32301

Docket for Case No: 83-002290

Orders for Case No: 83-002290