STATE OF FLORIDA

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

BETTY CASTOR, as Commissioner ) of Education, )

)

Petitioner, )

)

vs. ) CASE NO. 89-5632

)

DEBRA ALCORN-HOWERTER, )

)

Respondent. )

)

RECOMMENDED ORDER

Pursuant to notice, the Division of Administrative Hearings, by its duly designated Hearing Officer, James E. Bradwell, held a formal hearing in this case on June 22, 1990, in Tampa, Florida.

APPEARANCES

For Petitioner: Carolyn T. LeBoeuf, Esquire

BROOKS & LeBOEUF

863 East Park Avenue Tallahassee, Florida 32301

For Respondent: No appearance. 1/

STATEMENT OF THE ISSUE

Whether or not Respondent engaged in conduct involving gross immorality and/or moral turpitude which seriously reduced her effectiveness as an instructional employee as alleged, in violation of Subsections 231.28(1)(c) and (f), Florida Statutes.

PRELIMINARY STATEMENT

This cause was initiated by Betty Castor, as Commissioner of Education, (Petitioner herein) by petition dated August 28, 1989, alleging that during the years 1988-89, while employed as a substitute teacher in Polk County, Florida, Respondent engaged in conduct involving gross immorality and moral turpitude which seriously reduced her effectiveness as an employee of the School Board of Polk County. It is further alleged that on July 20, 1988, Respondent, while in the company of her minor daughter, entered the military reservation at MacDill Air Force Base (MacDill) in Tampa, Florida, and attended a lounge where alcoholic beverages were being served; and while in that club, Respondent became hysterical and disruptive to the point where she became physically abusive to military and other emergency service personnel who were summoned to escort Respondent from MacDill. It is also alleged that based on Respondent's conduct at MacDill, a violation was issued against her and she was found to be in possession of a misdemeanor amount of a controlled substance (marijuana). The complaint further alleges that during February 1989, the Department of Health

and Rehabilitative Services conducted an investigation of Respondent's treatment of her minor daughter which resulted in that Department filing a dependency petition on behalf of Respondent's daughter. Based on that petition, a judicial determination was made that Respondent abused her minor daughter, both physically and verbally. Respondent's daughter was adjudicated a dependent child and was removed from her custody.

At the hearing, Petitioner presented the testimony of Edmond G. Bates, Raymond E. Hook, Jr., Kevin C. Ambler, Gwendolyn McKenzie, Lois Pitts-Alcorn and Don R. Cox. Petitioner's Exhibits 1-4 were introduced and received in evidence at the hearing.

Pursuant to leave, the parties were allowed through August 31, 1990, to submit proposed recommended orders in support of their respective positions. Petitioner has filed a proposed recommended order which was considered in preparation of this Recommended Order. Proposed findings which are not incorporated herein are the subject of specific rulings in an Appendix. Upon consideration of the oral and documentary evidence presented at the hearing, the following relevant facts are determined:

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Respondent holds Florida teaching certificate number 584942, issued by the Department of Education, State of Florida, covering the area of substitute teacher, elementary and secondary levels. Said certificate is valid through June 30, 1990.

   
   

2. At all times material hereto, Respondent Debra Alcorn-Howerter, was listed as a substitute teacher in the Polk County School District.

   
   

3. On July 20, 1988, Respondent entered MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, and went into the Noncommissioned Officers Club (NCO), which is a lounge/bar that serves alcoholic beverages. Upon her arrival at the NCO club, Respondent was in the company of her minor daughter, G.H., who was, at the time, approximately nine years of age.

   
   

4. Respondent was advised by the NCO Club's night manager, Edmond Bates, that it was against military policy to have a minor in an area where alcoholic beverages were served. Bates allowed Respondent to take G.H. into an area adjacent to the bar that was closed at the time. Respondent moved in that area with G.H. for the remainder of the evening. Respondent was allowed to purchase approximately two or three alcoholic beverages over the course of the evening while at the club although she could not carry G.H. into areas where alcoholic beverages were being served. While in the club, Respondent was joined by an airman who remained with her until she left the club. They engaged in affectionate conduct in front of G.H. including hugging and kissing. Over the course of the evening, Bates observed Respondent acting emotionally upset, crying and the couple argued in G.H.'s presence.

   
   

5. The NCO Club closed at 11:00 p.m. and Bates had to ask Respondent and

   G.H. to leave the club when she did not leave with the other patrons. Respondent still did not leave and at approximately 11:15 p.m., Bates again ordered Respondent to leave and she started crying. Respondent was escorted

   outside the club whereupon she started crying and fell to the floor. Respondent had to be picked up by an unidentified male patron who carried her to the parking lot. Respondent later collapsed in the parking lot area around the Club and initiated an altercation while others, including patrons from the club, were

   attempting to calm and persuade her to leave the area peacefully. G.H. was escorted back into the club by a female employee so that she would not witness Respondent's incoherent and hysterical behavior.

   
   

6. Respondent was physically violent and struck a patron from the club who was attempting to assist her. She was likewise verbally abusive to all those around her and yelled at one patron to "get the f away" [from her]. Respondent finally had to be physically restrained to prevent her from further attacking patrons and injuring herself. Respondent was engaging in self destructive behavior including striking her head against the concrete in the parking lot. Bates had to summon the security police as well as emergency medical personnel to the scene due to Respondent's conduct.

   
   

7. Although Respondent consummed approximately three drinks while in the NCO club lounge, she did not appear intoxicated nor was her speech slurred.

   
   

8. Respondent is a small petite woman, approximately 4'11" tall and weighs under 100 pounds.

   
   

9. Upon the arrival of the security police, Respondent continued to react violently requiring four-point body restraints.

   
   

10. Respondent was taken to the Emergency Room at MacDill by ambulance in restraints where she continued to react in an abusive and violent manner, both physically and verbally.

    
    

11. Respondent remained in the Emergency Room at MacDill for approximately four hours. During that time, she never calmed down or became rational. Respondent was physically abusive to those who attempted to administer treatment to her and she spit at the Emergency Room personnel. It became necessary for other patients to be removed from the area where Respondent was being treated based on her disruptive conduct.

    
    

12. Dr. Stein, a physician at MacDill, evaluated Respondent and executed the necessary paperwork to transfer her to Tampa General Hospital for psychiatric evaluation pursuant to the statutory provisions of the Baker Act (Chapter 394, Florida Statutes).

    
    

13. Prior to Respondent's departure to Tampa General Hospital, Raymond E. Hook, Jr., the shift supervisor in the Emergency Room, inventoried Respondent's personal effects. Hook's inventory of Respondent's purse revealed a bottle of assorted pills which could not be identified and he threw them away. Hook also found a portable red ashtray in her purse containing several partially burned marijuana cigarettes and a misdemeanor amount of a substance that resembled marijuana. A field test and subsequent laboratory analysis of the substance resulted in a positive marijuana identification.

    
    

14. G.H. was housed at MacDill while Respondent was being admitted to the psychiatric unit of Tampa General.

    
    

15. Kevin C. Ambler, Special Assistant U.S. Attorney and Prosecutor at MacDill, received and reviewed the charges filed against Respondent. As a result of his review of the facts and the lab analysis of the substance found in Respondent's purse, Captain Ambler filed a complaint charging Respondent with misdemeanor possession of marijuana.

16. During the pendency of the criminal case, Respondent's criminal defense attorney raised an insanity defense and Captain Ambler determined, based on that defense and the fact that the charge was a misdemeanor offense, it was not worth the government's time and effort to proceed with the case. Captain Ambler moved to dismiss the charges without prejudice. The motion to dismiss was granted. However, as a condition of dismissal, Respondent was ordered not to re-enter MacDill for a period of one year except for approved medical assistance. Should Respondent violate that condition, she faces reactivation of the criminal charges with sanctions of a possible $500.00 fine and imprisonment for not more than six months, or a combination thereof.

    
    

17. During February 1988, the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services (HRS) received a child abuse report alleging that Respondent abused

    G.H. Gwendolyn McKenzie, a child protective investigator (CPI) was assigned the case and conducted an investigation. CPI McKenzie found that G.H. was emotionally and physically abused by Respondent after discovering that she engaged in a repeated pattern of abusive conduct including gagging the child, tying her hands to the bed and engaging in excessive corporal punishment by repeatedly striking her with a belt. McKenzie's investigation revealed that Respondent gave G.H. hot sauce to eat and forced her to drink liquid detergent as a means of discipline. G.H. suffered verbal and emotional abuse at Respondent's hands. CPI McKenzie also observed final stages of bruising over G.H.'s body which Respondent inflicted to discipline G.H.

    
    

18. Respondent's mother, Lois Pitts-Alcorn also observed that Respondent committed excessive physical and mental abuse to G.H. She tried on numerous occasions to stop Respondent from abusing G.H. without success. She therefore reported Respondent to HRS for committing physical and mental abuse to G.H. for G.H.'s protection.

    
    

19. Additionally, Pitts-Alcorn observed that Respondent took G.H. out at night while she attended bars and left her alone (unsupervised) in the car for extended periods of time.

    
    

20. On March 6, 1988, HRS filed a petition in juvenile court in Polk County, Florida, alleging that Respondent physically and emotionally abused G.H. As a result of that petition, G.H. was adjudicated a dependent child and she was removed from Respondent's custody and placed with her grandmother.

    
    

21. Based on Respondent's conduct at the hearing on the dependency petition, the judge ordered a psychological evaluation of Respondent. Pursuant to that evaluation, Respondent was found to be psychotic, her prognosis was very poor; and Respondent represented a threat to G.H. both physically and emotionally and should not regain custody. CPI McKenzie recommended, during the dependency hearing, that Respondent receive in-depth counseling and that G.H. likewise receive counseling to recover from the abuse she suffered at the hands of Respondent.

    
    

22. Respondent has a history of drug and alcohol abuse as well as violent and explosive conduct which manifested itself during her parenting of G.H. and her employment with the Polk County School Board during 1988-89.

    
    

23. Respondent, while employed as a substitute teacher on two separate occasions, at separate schools in Polk County, struck a child in her classroom. Respondent's conduct posed a danger to her student's well-being.

24. Respondent was removed from the list of approved substitute teachers by the School Board of Polk County, Florida, based on assistant superintendent Don R. Cox' examination of complaints and an investigation of such complaints by the Polk County School Board. Likewise, Cox received reports from Respondent's colleagues complaining of Respondent's violent and abusive conduct while employed as a substitute teacher in Polk County.

    
    

25. Respondent will not be considered for further employment by Polk County, Florida, based on their determination that Respondent poses dangerous and erratic behavior to those in her classroom.

    
    

    CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

    
    

26. The Division of Administrative Hearings has jurisdiction over the subject matter of and the parties to this action pursuant to Section 120.57(1), Florida Statutes.

    
    

27. The parties were duly noticed pursuant to Chapter 120, Florida Statutes.

    
    

28. The authority of the Petitioner is derived from Chapter 231, Florida Statutes.

    
    

29. Section 231.28(1), Florida Statutes, provides that the Education Practices Commission has the authority to suspend, revoke, or otherwise discipline the teaching certificate of any person who is shown to be guilty of gross immorality or acts involving moral turpitude, or who upon investigation has been found guilty of personal conduct which seriously reduces one's effectiveness as an employee of the School Board or has otherwise violated provisions of law or rules of the State Board of Education, the penalty for which is revocation of the teaching certificate.

    
    

30. Petitioner has demonstrated, by clear and convincing evidence, that Respondent violated Section 231.28(1)(c), Florida Statutes, on July 20, 1988, by committing acts of gross immorality and moral turpitude when she became disruptive and physically and verbally abusive to others at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida. Likewise, Respondent committed an act of immorality and moral turpitude by possessing marijuana while at MacDill in Tampa. Respondent further engaged in proscribed conduct by being in possession of a controlled substance on a military installation and by being barred from that installation based on such conduct.

    
    

31. Respondent also violated Section 231.28(1)(c), Florida Statutes, by her acts of gross immorality and moral turpitude by repeatedly physically and emotionally abusing her minor daughter which lead to her losing custody of her daughter following the dependency hearing in juvenile court, Polk County, Florida. Respondent also engaged in improper and inappropriate conduct while employed as a substitute teacher in Polk County. Based thereon, Respondent thereby engaged in conduct which seriously reduced her effectiveness as a teacher in violation of Section 231.28(1)(f), Florida Statutes. Based on the rigorous moral standards that teachers are held to including the requirement that a teacher be of good moral character, a teacher's obligation to the public and to the profession and Respondent's breach of that obligation, Respondent has engaged in immoral conduct and acts involving moral turpitude, and in disruptive and disorderly conduct in public. Respondent's immoral and inappropriate conduct and erratic behavior and its adverse affects poses a risk to the students who might be under her supervision and control. Likewise, Respondent's

explosive conduct and loss of effectiveness as a result of this behavior mandates a recommendation that her Florida teaching certificate be revoked.

RECOMMENDATION

Based on the foregoing Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, it is recommended that:

1. Petitioner enter a Final Order revoking Respondent's Florida teaching certificate for a period of five (5) years.

   
   

2. Respondent undergo psychiatric and drug treatment and demonstrate proof of adequate rehabilitation under conditions in accordance with the standards and procedures for recertification of teachers by the Education Practices Commission.

RECOMMENDED this 26th day of September, 1990, in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida.

JAMES E. BRADWELL

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 26th day of September, 1990.

ENDNOTES

1/ Respondent, although duly noticed, did not appear at the hearing.

COPIES FURNISHED:

Carolyn T. LeBoeuf, Esquire BROOKS & LeBOEUF

863 East Park Avenue Tallahassee, Florida 32301

Debra Alcorn-Howerter Post Office Box 301

Suwannee, Florida 33269-0301

Karen B. Wilde, Executive Director Education Practices Commission

301 Florida Education Center

325 West Gaines Street Tallahassee, Florid 32399-0400

Martin B. Schapp, Administrator Professional Practices Services

352 Florida Education Center

325 West Gaines Street Tallahassee Florida 32399-0300

Docket for Case No: 89-005632

Orders for Case No: 89-005632