STATE OF FLORIDA

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

PINELLAS COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD, )

)

Petitioner, )

)

vs. ) CASE NO. 93-1643

)

PETER F. CAMFFERMAN, )

)

Respondent. )

)

RECOMMENDED ORDER

Pursuant to notice, the Division of Administrative Hearings, by its duly designated Hearing Officer, K. N. Ayers, held a formal hearing in the above- styled case on July 15, 1993, in Largo, Florida.

APPEARANCES

For Petitioner: Keith B. Martin, Esquire

Post Office Box 2942 Largo, Florida 34649-2942

For Respondent: Lawrence D. Black, Esquire

650 Seminole Boulevard

Largo, Florida 34640-3625 STATEMENT OF THE ISSUES

Whether Respondent was wrongfully dismissed by the Pinellas County School Board.

PRELIMINARY STATEMENT

By letter dated March 11, 1993, the Superintendent, Pinellas County Schools, advised Peter F. Camfferman, Respondent, that he would recommend to the Pinellas County School Board that Respondent's Professional Services Contract be cancelled and that his position with the school system be terminated for the 1993/1994 school year. As grounds therefore it is alleged that the termination is due to declining and low enrollment in Respondent's program area.

By letter dated March 23, 1993, Respondent, by and through his Attorney, requested a formal hearing to challenge this recommendation and these proceedings followed. At the hearing Petitioner called four witnesses, Respondent testified in his own behalf and four exhibits were admitted into evidence. Proposed findings have been submitted by the parties. Treatment accorded those proposed findings are contained in the Appendix attached hereto. Having fully considered all evidence presented I submit the following.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Peter F. Camfferman was employed as a vocational instructor with the Seminole Vocational School by the Pinellas County School District.

   
   

2. Peter F. Camfferman is certified by the State to teach in the area of cabinet making/wood working. He is not certified to teach in any other field and has never been certified to teach in any other field in the past.

   
   

3. On March 11, 1993, J. Howard Hinesley, the Superintendent of Schools notified Mr. Peter F. Camfferman by letter that he would be recommending the termination of Mr. Camfferman's teaching position because there was not sufficient demand for cabinet making instruction to support the continuance of a full time instructor at the Seminole Vocational School.

   
   

4. In the past, Peter F. Camfferman was allowed to teach out of field in the areas of practical construction trades and basic gas engines at Seminole Vocational School. During the 1992-93 school year, Mr. Camfferman was notified that, in accordance with Florida State Board of Education Rule 6A-10.0503, he would not be allowed to continue teaching out-of-field in the 1993-94 school year unless he took at least six semester hours toward infield certification or completed certification requirements within the twelve months from the date of his assignment to that out-of-field course of instruction.

   
   

5. After notification, Mr. Camfferman made no efforts to complete any instruction or accomplish certification in any other areas of instruction.

   
   

6. Enrollment of forty-five to fifty students is required in a vocational course to support the assignment of a full time instructor. For the 1993-94 school year less than twenty-five students have applied for the course of cabinet making at Seminole Vocational School.

   
   

7. State funding for vocational education is based on the amount of demand for a certain vocational course. FTEs or full time equivalents are assigned based on the total number of students who have enrolled for a certain vocational course. Units of funding are then allotted in accordance with the number of FTEs established. If there are insufficient FTEs to establish a full unit then State funding for that course will be less than what is required to provide for a full time instructor.

   
   

8. When it was determined that there was an insufficient demand to justify the continuance of a full time instructor in the area of cabinet making at Seminole Vocational School, other areas of employment within the school district were considered for Mr. Peter F. Camfferman. There were no openings in positions for the teaching of cabinet-making in the district. There were two other cabinet-making instructional positions within the district. Both of those positions were filled by instructors who had obtained a professional service contract. In accordance with prior district policy, which had been consistently followed, these instructors who had obtained professional service contracts were not removed from their positions in order to place Mr. Camfferman.

   
   

9. There was an attempt to employ Mr. Camfferman in a supporting services position. Two positions were offered to Mr. Camfferman. A roofer's position and a carpenter's position were offered to Mr. Camfferman. He refused to accept either of these positions.

10. The agreement between the School Board of Pinellas County and the Pinellas Classroom Teachers' Association, which was in effect for the school year 1992-93, states in Article XXI, Section C, that except in an emergency, to ensure that students are taught by teachers working within their areas of competence, teachers shall be assigned to teach only in the grades and subject fields for which they are qualified as well as in accordance with the regulations of the State Board of Education. The agreement also stated in Article XXII, Section A, that should economic circumstance dictate a reduction of personnel, the Board shall take whatever steps are necessary to assign personnel to appropriate positions within the district for which they are qualified consistent with this agreement and the law.

    
    

11. Attempts were made during the 1992-93 school year to improve enrollment in the cabinet-making program at Seminole Vocational School. Those efforts include attendance at evening career fairs and encouragement of guidance counselors to suggest the area of cabinet-making to students considering taking a carpentry or wood working type course. Mr. Camfferman had every opportunity to attempt to improve the demand for the cabinet making course at Seminole Vocational School by attending these evening fairs. He chose not to attend.

    
    

    CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

    
    

12. The Division of Administrative Hearings has jurisdiction over the parties to, and the subject matter of, these proceedings.

    
    

13. Section 230.23(5)(f), F.S., provides that the school board shall have the power to suspend, dismiss, or return to annual contract member of the instructional staff and other school employees for grounds stated in Chapter 231.

    
    

14. Section 230.33 establishes the duties of the Superintendent which include recommending to the school board duties and responsibilities which need to be performed and positions which need to be filled to make possible the development of an adequate school program in the district.

    
    

15. Testimony that forty-five to fifty students are required in a vocational course to support the assignment of a full time instructor was not rebutted or contested. Nor was the evidence that Respondent's class contained no more than twenty- five students. Accordingly, Petitioner has proven that Respondent's position as a cabinetmaker instructor at Seminole Vocational School could not be justified.

    
    

16. Further, Respondent presented competent evidence that efforts were made to locate a position for Respondent for which he was qualified to teach but without success.

    
    

17. In these proceedings Petitioner has the burden to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the Respondent's termination was proper. Dileo v. School Board of Dade County, 569 So.2d 883 (Fl. 3rd DCA 1990); Accord, Allen v. School Board of Dade County, 571 So.2d 568 (Fl. 3rd DCA 1990). Petitioner has here met that burden.

RECOMMENDATION

That a final order be entered sustaining Peter F. Camfferman's dismissal as a Vocational Instructor at the Seminole Vocational School.

RECOMMENDED this 28th day of July, 1993, in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida.

K. N. AYERS 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 28th day of July, 1993.

APPENDIX TO RECOMMENDED ORDER, CASE NO. 93-1643

Proposed findings submitted by Petitioner are incorporated in the Hearing Officer's findings.

Proposed findings submitted by Respondent are accepted except as noted below;

1. Rejected. Mr. Camfferman was informed that he needed to take additional courses to continue to teach out of fields for which he was not certified.

   
   

2. Last sentence rejected.

   
   

3. Accepted. However, these rules and requirements were also available to Mr. Camfferman.

6.-7. Rejected as not supported by credible evidence.

COPIES FURNISHED:

Keith B. Martin, Esquire Post Office Box 2942 Largo, Florida 34649-6202

Lawrence D. Black, Esquire 650 Seminole Boulevard

Largo, Florida 34640-3625

Dr. J. Howard Hinesley, Superintendent Pinellas County School Board

Post Office Box 4688 Clearwater, Florida 33518

Hon. Betty Castor 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 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: 93-001643

Orders for Case No: 93-001643