The Issue The issue is whether Respondent should be terminated from her position as an instructional employee for gross insubordination and being willfully absent from duty.
Findings Of Fact Based upon all of the evidence, the following findings of fact are determined: In this termination case, Petitioner, Lake County School Board (Board), seeks to terminate Respondent, Brenda Armstead, an instructional employee, on the ground that she was willfully absent from duty without leave and guilty of gross insubordination by virtue of having repeatedly refused to report to her job assignment. In a letter dated May 26, 2000, Respondent asked for a hearing "as soon as possible," contending that the "termination was illegal." In school year 1999-2000, Respondent was employed as a teacher at Lake Hills School in Eustis, Florida, where she taught 3 to 5-year-old children with severe emotional disabilities. In September 1999, Respondent was arrested for stalking. However, the criminal charges were later dropped or reduced to a lesser charge. Pending the disposition of the matter, Respondent continued working in the classroom. In January 2000, Respondent reported to her supervisor that she had been exposed to "CMV," an infectious viral disease. Despite being tested as negative, Respondent continued to have concerns with her health and began to exhibit unusual or bizarre behavior in the classroom. Among other things, Respondent constantly wore gloves in the classroom, avoided physical or close contact with her aides, and exhibited other unusual habits or practices. She also began sending "unusual" correspondence to the Superintendent. Because of this, she met with her principal and the Board's Assistant Superintendent on February 14, 2000. At that meeting, Respondent was orally directed to report to the Board's MIS Copy Center (Copy Center) effective immediately until she "could meet with a medical doctor." This action was authorized by School Board Policy 6.171(4), which allows the Board to "require a physical, psychological, and/or psychiatric examination by a physician licensed in the state of Florida when in the School Board's judgment such an examination is relevant to the teaching performance or employment status or a School Board employee." Given Respondent's behavior, the transfer to a non-teaching position was also appropriate and necessary since Respondent was working with emotionally handicapped children. Accordingly, the Board arranged for an evaluation of Respondent by a Dr. Kendall on February 17, 2000; that physician recommended that Respondent be further examined by a psychiatrist. By letter dated February 24, 2000, the Board's Superintendent again directed Respondent to report to the Copy Center for temporary duty pending the results of the examination. The letter was hand-delivered to Respondent on February 25, 2000. Despite both orders, Respondent never reported to work at the Copy Center. Although she "came on campus" a couple of times, she never returned to work. She was later given another oral instruction by telephone on March 16, 2000, by the Board's Assistant Superintendent. By certified mail sent on April 13, 2000, the Board's Superintendent again directed Respondent to report to work, and he warned that if she did not do so by April 19, 2000, she would be subject to being terminated for being absent without leave, gross insubordination, and willful neglect of duties. Respondent received the letter the following day. Even so, she never reported to work. It is fair to infer from the evidence that Respondent was willfully absent from work without leave. On April 21, 2000, the Superintendent recommended to the Board that Respondent be terminated because of her "continuing intentional refusal to report to work despite repeated direct orders, reasonable in nature, and given by and with proper authority to do so." This recommendation was accepted by the Board at its meeting on May 8, 2000.
Recommendation Based on the foregoing Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, it is RECOMMENDED that the Lake County School Board enter a final order determining that Respondent is guilty of gross insubordination and being willfully absent without leave, and that she be terminated as an instructional employee for just cause. DONE AND ENTERED this 16th day of August, 2000, in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida. DONALD R. ALEXANDER Administrative Law Judge Division of Administrative Hearings The DeSoto Building 1230 Apalachee Parkway Tallahassee, Florida 32399-3060 (850) 488-9675 SUNCOM 278-9675 Fax Filing (850) 921-6847 www.doah.state.fl.us Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 16th day of August, 2000. COPIES FURNISHED: Dr. R. Jerry Smith, Superintendent Lake County School Board 201 West Burleigh Boulevard Tavares, Florida 32778-2496 Stephen W. Johnson, Esquire McLin, Burnsed, Morrison, Johnson, Newman & Roy, P.A. Post Office Box 491357 Leesburg, Florida 34749-1357 Brenda Armstead 32412 Crystal Breeze Lane Leesburg, Florida 34788 Tom Gallagher Commissioner of Education Department of Education The Capitol, Plaza Level 08 Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0400
Findings Of Fact Allan Bonilla, currently Principal of Riviera Junior High School, was one of at least two assistant principals who attempted to work with Venus Tara Rodriguez during her 7th grade experience there in the 1984-1985 regular school year. He has been employed four years at that facility. Immediately prior to the winter vacation (commonly known as the extended Christmas holidays), on December 20, 1984, Venus left the campus without prior permission, this activity resulted in a two-day indoor suspension. In February, 1985, she received a three-day indoor suspension as the result of tardiness which culminated in an outdoor suspension the same month because her behavior at the three-day indoor suspension was so disruptive that it was deemed ineffective for her and the other students. In March, 1985, her rude and disruptive classroom behavior resulted in two indoor suspensions. In April 1985, as a result of her refusal to work during the last indoor suspension, she was assigned an outdoor suspension. Mr. Bonilla did not work with Venus as regularly as another assistant principal who was not available for hearing, but he expressed personal knowledge of the foregoing events and had interacted with Venus on several occasions for being out of class and boisterous. His assessment was that Venus could do the work required of her but that her behavior was so disruptive in the classroom that at the conclusion of the regular 1984-1985 school year she was failing two out of six subjects and was doing approximately "D" work in the rest. He agreed with the decision to assign her to an alternative school program, which decision was made because of Venus' need of individual attention and smaller class due to her habit of "acting out" in large groups. Venus' parents were contacted concerning each suspension. Mr. Bonilla testified that Venus has successfully finished 7th grade during the 1985 summer school session at GRE Lee opportunity School and he has received notice she will be reassigned and enrolled at Riviera Junior High School for the 1985-1986 school year commencing in September 1985.
Recommendation Upon the foregoing findings of fact and conclusions of law, it is recommended that the School Board enter a final order returning Venus Tara Rodriguez to Riviera Junior High School. DONE AND ORDERED this 29th day of August, 1985, at Tallahassee, Florida. ELLA JANE P. DAVIS, Hearing Officer Division of Administrative Hearings The Oakland Building 2009 Apalachee Parkway Tallahassee, Florida 32301 (904) 488-9675 Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 29th day of August, 1985. COPIES FURNISHED: Phyllis O. Douglas, Esquire 1410 N. E. Second Avenue Miami, Florida 33132 Madelyn P. Schere, Esquire Dade County Public Schools Board Administration Building 1410 N. E. Second Avenue Miami, Florida 33132 Mark A. Valentine, Esquire 3050 Biscayne Blvd. Suite 800 Miami, Florida 33137-4198 Ms. Wilhelmina A. Rodriguez 4110 S. W. 104th Place Miami, Florida 33165 Dr. Leonard Britton Superintendent of Schools Dade County Public Schools 1510 N. E. Second Avenue Miami, Florida 33132
The Issue The issue in this case is whether Petitioner, Polk County School Board ("School Board"), had just cause to terminate Respondent, Blanca R. Ortiz' ("Respondent"), employment as a teacher.
Findings Of Fact At all times relevant to this proceeding, Respondent was employed by the School Board as a teacher at Lakeland High School, where she taught spanish. Respondent currently holds a professional services contract pursuant to Section 1012.33, Florida Statutes (2007).1 On February 6, 2008, Chelsey Etgen, a Lakeland High School student in Respondent's fourth-period class, left her packback in Respondent's classroom during the lunch period. The backpack contained Ms. Etgen's iPod Touch ("iPod"). When Ms. Etgen returned to the classroom from lunch, an unidentified male student, who was sitting near her, handed her (Etgen) a graph and a calculator and asked if those were her items. Ms. Etgen recognized both the graph and calculator as items that belonged to her and that had been in the same "pocket" of her backpack as her iPod. Ms. Etgen immediately checked her backpack and, upon doing so, discovered that her iPod was missing. Immediately after Ms. Etgen discovered that her iPod was missing, she notified Respondent. Respondent had the students in the class empty their pockets, but the iPod was not found. Respondent then instructed Ms. Etgen to notify appropriate school officials that the iPod had been taken from her backpack. On February 7, 2008, Ms. Etgen reported to the school resource officer ("resource officer" or "officer") that the iPod was missing from her backpack. Ms. Etgen's iPod was black with a silver face/screen. About a week after Ms. Etgen reported that her iPod was stolen, Respondent asked Ben Brown and another student in Respondent's third-period Spanish I class if they could unlock her iPod. Respondent told Mr. Brown and the other student that her daughter had taken the iPod to school and tried the password so many times that it (the iPod) had "locked up." Mr. Brown and several other students attempted to "unlock" the computer, but were unsuccessful in doing so. Almost two weeks after Ms. Etgen's iPod was reported as missing, Ms. Etgen told Mr. Brown that she thought Respondent had her (Etgen's) iPod. The two students then arranged for Mr. Brown to check the serial number on the iPod that Respondent stated was hers with the serial number of Ms. Etgen's stolen iPod. Mr. Brown agreed to get the serial number off the iPod. As a security measure, Mr. Brown told Ms. Etgen that after he obtained the serial number from the iPod, he would e-mail half of the serial number to her and indicated that she should provide the other half of the serial number to him. On or about February 20, 2008, and after the conversation described in paragraph 8, Mr. Brown went to Respondent's third-period class. The iPod, which Mr. Brown had been trying to "unlock" for Respondent, was still in Respondent's classroom. That day, Mr. Brown was able to hold and look at the iPod and to obtain the serial number of the iPod. Ms. Etgen obtained the serial number of her stolen iPod from the box in which the iPod had come. On February 20, 2008, Mr. Brown and Ms. Etgen exchanged a series of text messages in which each of them provided parts of the serial number of the iPod that was in Respondent's classroom. After doing so, Mr. Brown and Ms. Etgen confirmed that the serial number of the iPod that Respondent had said was hers matched the serial number of Ms. Etgen's stolen iPod. The iPod from which Mr. Brown obtained the serial number discussed above, looked identical to the one that he had been trying to "unlock" for Respondent. After confirming that the iPod in Respondent's classroom matched her iPod serial number, Ms. Etgen told school officials that she believed Respondent had her (Etgen's) iPod. Ms. Etgen also delivered to resource officers, Stacy Pough and Steve Sherman, the box for her iPod that had the serial number which Ms. Etgen believed matched the iPod in the possession of Respondent. On February 20, 2008, soon after receiving information from Ms. Etgen about the matching iPod serial numbers, Officers Pough and Sherman went to Respondent's classroom to ask her about the missing/stolen iPod. Upon entering the classroom, the officers approached Respondent and Officer Sherman asked Respondent about Ms. Etgen's missing iPod and asked if she had the iPod. In response, Respondent told the officers that she did not have the iPod. The resource officers then left the classroom and went into the hall and reported what they had been told to Lakeland High School administrators, Mr. Thomas, then principal, and Tracie Collins, then assistant principal of curriculum. When the resource officers made the initial contact with Respondent, Lakeland High School students, Tyler Qualls and Barbara Duckstein, were among the students in Respondent's classroom. Both Mr. Qualls and Ms. Duckstein overheard the conversation between the resource officers and Respondent described in paragraph 14. Although Respondent told the officers that her iPod was at home, both Mr. Qualls and Ms. Duckstein had seen Respondent with an iPod earlier that day. In fact, that same day and before the officers came to Respondent's classroom, Respondent had asked Ms. Duckstein to see if she could unlock Respondent's iPod. Ms. Duckstein then attempted to "unlock" what she believed to be Respondent's iPod,2 but was unsuccessful in doing so. Soon after the resource officers left Respondent's classroom, Ms. Duckstein left the classroom and told the officers that Respondent had an iPod in the classroom. After Officers Pough and Stewart completed their initial interview with Respondent and left her classroom, Mr. Quall observed Respondent remove the iPod from her desk drawer and put it in her black tote bag. After the resource officers' initial interview with Respondent, the students in Respondent's classroom were released early for lunch. Ms. Collins told Respondent that a student had "something" missing and asked her if the officers could come in and look around the classroom. Respondent agreed to allow the officers to search the classroom. Ms. Collins then authorized the resource officers to search Respondent's classroom. During the search, Ms. Collins observed Respondent move a stack of papers and folders from her desk into a bag. The manner in which Respondent moved the items made Ms. Collins suspicious, so she asked Officer Pough if he had looked in the bag. Officer Pough told Ms. Collins that he thought he had, but would look again. While looking through the bag, Officer Pough found the iPod that belonged to Ms. Etgen. At the hearing, Respondent testified that she did not take Ms. Etgen's iPod and that she did not know how the iPod got in her tote bag. Respondent also testified that she had received an iPod for Christmas and that she had asked the students to "unlock" the iPod that she believed was hers. Respondent's testimony implied that her iPod was identical to Ms. Etgen's iPod and that this may have been a source of confusion as to which iPod she had asked the students to "unlock." However, Respondent provided no evidence to support her claim that she had an iPod.3 In attempting to explain how Ms. Etgen's iPod came into her possession, Respondent then testified that on February 20, 2008, she confiscated several electronic devices, including an iPod, from students who were using them in class and placed the items on her desk. Respondent testified that at the end of the class, the students were allowed to come and retrieve the items, but apparently one unidentified student did not retrieve the iPod, but left it on Respondent's desk. Respondent suggested that perhaps it was that unidentified student who brought Ms. Etgen's iPod into Respondent's classroom on August 20, 2008.4 Respondent's testimony was confusing, vague, and unpersuasive. Ms. Collins, now principal of Lakeland High School, testified that the success of a teacher is tied to his or her credibility (character and integrity) with the students. The evidence supports the allegation that Respondent stole a student's iPod. Moreover, the evidence established that the incident occurred at school and that students at the school, as well as administrators, knew about the incident. Given the foregoing, Respondent is no longer an effective teacher. As a result of the subject incident on or about November 5, 2008, Respondent was convicted of petit theft in a criminal proceeding in Polk County, Florida.5
Recommendation Based on the foregoing Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, it is RECOMMENDED that Petitioner, Polk County School Board, enter a final order dismissing Respondent, Blanca Ortiz, from her position as a teacher. DONE AND ENTERED this 31st day of December, 2008, in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida. S CAROLYN S. HOLIFIELD Administrative Law Judge Division of Administrative Hearings The DeSoto Building 1230 Apalachee Parkway Tallahassee, Florida 32399-3060 (850) 488-9675 Fax Filing (850) 921-6847 www.doah.state.fl.us Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 31st day of December, 2008.
Findings Of Fact At all times material, Respondent, Claudia Walker, was employed as a continuing contract teacher by Petitioner Broward County School Board. The Respondent taught from January 1979 through November 1, 1984 at Bright Horizons School. In November 1984, she transferred to South Florida State Exceptional Student Center and thereafter taught elementary school age children with behavioral problems. Among those assigned to her Self-contained classroom were some homicidal and suicidal students with low impulse control. During the time Respondent has worked for the Broward County School Board, her teaching evaluations have been good, to outstanding, to exceptional. She has never previously been cited or disciplined. Doris Seitner was employed by Petitioner as a teaching assistant from approximately September 3, 1985 to December 3, 1985 and was assigned to Respondent's class. On Thursday, November 7, 1985, Respondent and Seitner took the class of about 25 students on a field trip to the Metro Zoo. Prior to their departure on the bus, Ms. Seitner noticed Respondent entering the staff restroom. When Respondent emerged, a student immediately entered the restroom. Upon the student exiting the restroom, Ms. Seitner also entered the restroom where she found a small pink glasses case. Believing the case belonged to the student, the aide opened the purse and saw a plastic baggie containing a white powder, a small vial, a razor blade, and several cut up straws. Upon leaving the restroom, Ms. Seitner encountered the Respondent, who identified the case as hers and took it. At this point, the state of events was that Doris Seitner had seen a substance she thought was cocaine. Doris Seitner is not an expert on drug identification. She admits never previously having seen cocaine up close. Although she had seen some drug abuse classes at the school, she had no courses in cocaine and had never smelled or tasted it. She did not open the plastic baggie or examine its contents on November 7, 1985. However, believing that the case contained cocaine and drug related paraphernalia, Ms. Seitner confided what she had found, together with her suspicions to a number of people and sought their advice on how to proceed. Shawn Joseph, another teacher's aide, suggested Ms. Seitner inform the school officials of what she had found. Later in the evening, Ms. Seitner contacted Pam Tepsic, a teacher on task assignment, who suggested she advise the principal immediately. The acting principal, Kathryn Mangan, upon learning of the discovery, contacted Howard Stearns, Petitioner's Director of Internal Affairs, who referred her to William Bohan. At all times material, William Bohan was employed by Petitioner as an investigator for Internal Affairs and has been a certified law enforcement officer. On November 12, 1985, Mangan told Bohan about Ms. Seitner's belief that she had seen cocaine in Respondent's glasses case. Bohan instructed Mangan to take no action but to call him in case the glasses case was seen again. Bohan interviewed Ms. Seitner and instructed her to watch out for the case. On the morning of Monday, November 25, 1985, while Respondent was in her classroom, Ms. Seitner came in and asked if she could fetch lunch for Respondent. Respondent retrieved her purse from the back room of the self- contained classroom, a location called "the teacher planning area", wherein she normally isolates her purse from the students, and gave Ms. Seitner money to pay for her lunch. Doris Seitner sat at the desk, and looking down into the Respondent's unzipped purse, spotted the pink glasses case. Seitner notified Tepsic, who notified John Smith, acting principal, who notified Bohan, who came to the school. Bohan and Tepsic walked to Respondent's classroom. When they arrived there, Tepsic approached Respondent in the classroom; Bohan stationed himself at the door. Tepsic told Respondent that a man wanted to see her in the principal's office. Tepsic avoided responding to Respondent's repeated requests to know what was going on or answered Respondent that she did not know what was going on. Respondent walked with Tepsic to the door. Bohan asked Respondent if the purse by her classroom desk was hers. The Respondent answered, "yes" whereupon Bohan walked over, picked up the purse, and, retaining the purse, began walking with Respondent and Pam Tepsic to John Smith's office. On the way to Smith's office, Respondent told Bohan she could carry her own purse but Bohan responded that he could carry it. She repeated her questions to Pam Tepsic, asking what was going on and received the same evasions. In making the immediately preceding finding of fact, the testimony of Pam Tepsic, Investigator Bohan, and Respondent have been considered and weighed. While Investigator Bohan testified that Respondent said and did nothing to claim her purse after he seized it and Pam Tepsic initially related that Respondent said nothing about her purse at any time in the classroom or while walking over to the principal's office, Pam Tepsic's testimony as a whole reveals that she was particularly nervous during all these incidents and that at a point in time closer to the actual events, she had believed some such conversation took place between Bohan and Respondent, but that on the date of formal hearing she simply could not recall any conversation between Bohan and the Respondent, including Bohan's asking Respondent if the purse were hers and Respondent's reply, "yes", statements Bohan and Respondent each testified had been made. The Respondent's account of her request to carry her own purse is highly credible. It is simply not credible that any adult woman would not request return of such an intimate item as her purse, containing all her personal effects, including valuables and money, from a man whom she had never seen before in the absence of any explanation of what was going on. Bohan, Tepsic, and Respondent entered John Smith's office. Bohan placed Respondent's purse on Smith's desk in front of himself. Bohan told Respondent he had been informed she was in possession of an illegal drug and asked if she would consent to Bohan's searching her purse. Pam Tepsic's recollection of what happened next was that either Respondent said she would consent to the search or that someone else said Respondent had consented or said something like, "Well, then you consent," to Respondent. Respondent denies ever being asked to consent to a search of her purse. John Smith understood Bohan to ask permission to search the purse and understood that Respondent said "yes" to Bohan's request. Bohan relates an affirmative answer from Respondent. Before he started searching her purse, but after the question concerning consent/permission, Bohan asked Respondent did she have anything in her purse that might be a problem that she might want to tell him about before he searched her purse. Tepsic, Bohan, Smith, and Respondent are in agreement that Respondent replied, "yes" that she did want to tell Bohan what was in the purse. The explanation given at that time was that early that morning she had taken cocaine and other items from her estranged husband who had a drug problem. Bohan removed from Respondent's purse the pink glasses case; some other unrelated items; four small plastic bags containing a white powdery residue; four straws cut 2-1/4 inches to 2-3/4 inches long; one GEM single edge razor blade; one small, 3/4 inch empty vial; one piece of aluminum foil 2-1/2 inches by 3-1/4 inches; eight straws in Wendy's wrappers; one wooden toothpick; and one nickel. When Respondent persisted in her explanation that the drugs and paraphernalia were her husband's property and that she had taken them to protect him but in response to further questioning by Bohan, Respondent was unable to flesh out an explanation she had begun concerning the husband's drug counselling and treatment and her participation therein, Bohan told Respondent that her options were either jail in Fort Lauderdale via the Broward County Sheriff's Department or discussing the matter at Petitioner's Internal Affairs Office. Although Bohan asserted that he made no "threats," Bohan, Tepsic, Smith, and Respondent concur that these were the only alternatives Bohan provided Respondent during their confrontation in Smith's office. A subsequent laboratory analysis conducted on the items seized November 25, 1985 revealed the presence of cocaine only in the small plastic bag containing the white powder. The property in the purse was taken into the Internal Affairs Office for inventory. These items, including the cocaine, were described by Ms. Seitner as "similar" to the items she saw in the pink case on November 7, 1985. Respondent customarily keeps a razor blade in her purse to use for arts and crafts projects in her class. Other teachers at the center also use razor blades to perform art projects. The Respondent customarily keeps drinking straws in her purse to give to her three small children to drink with while they are riding in her car. Article XVIII, Section K, of the current collective bargaining agreement between the Broward Teachers Union and Petitioner provides: "No investigation of an em- ployee, beyond preliminary inquiry, by the Internal Affairs Department may be undertaken without written notice to the employee, such notice to include a statement of the cause giving rise to the investigation." No written notice was given to Respondent by Petitioner. A sign posted on the grounds of the school at the front gate notifies anyone entering that they are subject to being searched while on the grounds. (TR 149-150) Respondent accompanied Bohan to Internal Affairs where Bohan and Stearns interrogated her. Respondent again told them the drugs inventoried belonged to her husband. She further revealed to Stearns, apparently in hopes of receiving counselling instead of dismissal, that she had been clean of cocaine during the nine months of her recent pregnancy and clean recently until the immediately preceding Saturday night. (TR-205) After Internal Affairs finished questioning Respondent, Bohan took her to the Employee Assistance Program and then later to the Broward Alcohol and Rehabilitation Center. Respondent claims she was denied use of a phone to contact anyone until she reached the Employee Assistance Program, but she concedes there were public phones available at the school and she did not insist on using any. At hearing, Respondent testified that she had never used cocaine and would not have used it in November, 1985 because she was breastfeeding her new daughter. She also testified that the contraband items were taken from her husband the morning of November 25, however, rather than corroborating this story, the testimony of Wilton Johnson, her estranged husband, is contrary to Respondent's account of the incident in so many details as to adversely affect Respondent's credibility that the incident occurred. Respondent was suspended with pay November 26-28, 1985, the remainder of the school week. On Monday, December 2, 1985, she was permitted to resume her classroom duties until she was notified of suspension with pay, December 6, 1985. On December 19, 1985, Petitioner suspended Respondent without pay.
Recommendation Upon the foregoing findings of fact and conclusions of law, it is recommended that Petitioner enter a final order dismissing Counts I and II, finding Respondent guilty as charged in Counts III and IV, and dismissing her from employment. DONE and ORDERED this 5th day of September, 1986, in Tallahassee, Florida. ELLA JANE P. DAVIS Hearing Officer Division of Administrative Hearings The Oakland Building 2009 Apalachee Parkway Tallahassee, Florida 32301 (904) 488-9675 Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 5th day of September, 1986.
The Issue The issue for determination is whether Respondent committed the offenses set forth in the Amended Administrative Complaint and, if so, what action should be taken.
Findings Of Fact Ms. Maynard has a Bachelor of Science degree in Education (K-6) and a Master of Arts degree in Teaching (Special Education). Her prior teaching experience includes teaching in the United States, Korea, and Japan. Ms. Maynard began her employment with the School Board as a substitute teacher. She was a substitute teacher for approximately six years. In the Summer of 2004, Ms. Maynard was hired to teach at the Pompano Beach Elementary School (Pompano Beach Elementary). However, Pompano Beach Elementary had over-hired, and she was surplused-out to Cypress Elementary School (Cypress Elementary). For the 2004-2005 school year, Ms. Maynard began at Cypress Elementary as a kindergarten teacher. For the 2005-2006 school year, Ms. Maynard was reassigned as an elementary teacher at Cypress Elementary. The parties agree that the relevant time period in the instant case is the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 school years. No dispute exists that, at all times material hereto, Ms. Maynard was an instructional employee, a third grade teacher, with the School Board at Cypress Elementary. On April 7, 2006, Ms. Maynard received a written reprimand from Cypress Elementary's Assistant Principal, Barbara Castiglione (now, Barbara Castiglione-Rothman). The basis for the disciplinary action was Ms. Maynard's failure, twice, to comply with a directive from Ms. Castiglione--Ms. Maynard was requested to report to an academic meeting with Ms. Castiglione. Among other things, Ms. Maynard was advised that her failure to perform to the standards established for the effective and productive performance of her job duties would result in further disciplinary action up to and including a recommendation for termination of employment. A copy of the written reprimand was provided to Ms. Maynard. Ms. Maynard contended that she was not refusing to attend the meetings but wanted to meet with Ms. Castiglione when a witness of her own choosing could attend. Ms. Maynard wanted a witness to be present at the meetings because she viewed the meetings as disciplinary meetings even though Ms. Castiglione indicated that the meetings were not disciplinary meetings. Additionally, on April 7, 2006, Ms. Maynard made a written request for a transfer from Cypress Elementary. The type of transfer requested by Ms. Maynard was "Regular."2 Cypress Elementary's principal, Louise Portman, signed the request. The principal's signature, as well as the requester's signature, was required. No transfer occurred. PMPs During the 2006-2007 School Year Through School Board policy, implementing a Legislative mandate, all teachers at Cypress Elementary were required to develop an individualized progress monitoring plan (PMP) for each student, who was deficient in reading, in consultation with the student's parent(s). Data for the PMP were collected through reading assessments at the beginning of the school year to establish a student's reading level. The appropriate reading program for the student would be decided upon using the data. Also, who was going to teach the reading program would be decided. The PMP, among other things, identified the student's reading deficiency and set forth the plan to remediate the deficiency and enhance the student's achievement in reading, which included the proposed supplemental instruction services that would be provided to the student. PMPs were generated usually two to three weeks after the beginning of the school year. A copy of the PMP was provided to the student's parent(s). The PMP was referred to as a "living, fluid document." It was not unusual for PMPs to reflect interventions not being used at the time, i.e., it was permissible for PMPs to reflect interventions that were to be used during the school year. Further, the wording current on a PMP referred to interventions during the current school year, not necessarily at that time. PMPs were modified throughout the school year on an as needed basis depending upon a student's progress. On or about September 29, 2006, Ms. Portman advised Ms. Maynard that Ms. Maynard's PMPs must be deleted because the interventions listed on the PMPs were not on the Struggling Readers Chart and were, therefore, invalid. The Struggling Readers Chart was developed by the Florida Department of Education (DOE) and contained interventions approved by DOE. Cypress Elementary had a Reading Coach, Jennifer Murphins. Ms. Murphins advised Ms. Maynard that, in order to delete the PMPs, a list of the students, who were on the PMPs, was needed so that Ms. Murphins could provide the names to the person in the school district who was authorized to delete the PMPs. Further, Ms. Murphins advised Ms. Maynard that, once the PMPs were deleted, Ms. Maynard could input valid interventions for the students. The School Board's Curriculum Administrator, Mark Quintana, Ph.D., was the person who was designated to delete PMPs. It was not unusual for Dr. Quintana to receive a telephone call from a school to delete information from PMPs-- the request must originate from the school. Ms. Maynard resisted the deletion of the PMPs and refused to delete them time and time again. She suggested, instead, not deleting the PMPs, but preparing updated PMPs and sending both to the students' parents. Her belief was that she could not put proposed interventions on the PMPs, but that she was required to only include interventions that were actually being used with the students at the time. Even though Ms. Maynard was advised by Ms. Portman that proposed interventions could be included on PMPs, Ms. Maynard still refused to provide Ms. Murphins with the list of the students. Furthermore, Ms. Maynard insisted that including interventions not yet provided, but to be provided, on the PMPs was contrary to Florida's Meta Consent Agreement. She had not read the Meta Consent Agreement and was unable to provide Ms. Portman with a provision of the Meta Consent Agreement that supported a contradiction. Ms. Portman directed Ms. Murphins to contact Dr. Quintana to delete the PMPs for Ms. Maynard's students. Ms. Murphins did as she was directed. The PMPs were deleted. On or about October 5, 2006, Ms. Maynard notified Ms. Portman by email that a complaint against Ms. Portman was filed by her with DOE regarding, among other things, the changing of the PMPs and the denying to her students equal access to the reading curriculum and trained professionals. On or about October 30, 2006, Ms. Castiglione sent a directive by email to all teachers regarding, among other things, placing PMPs and letters to parents in the students' report card envelopes. Ms. Maynard refused to comply with Ms. Castiglione's directive because, among other things, the students' PMPs for Ms. Maynard had been deleted and to rewrite the PMPs with interventions that were not actually used by the students was considered falsifying legal documents by Ms. Maynard. On or about October 31, 2006, Ms. Portman directed Ms. Maynard to rewrite the PMPs. Ms. Maynard continued to refuse to obey Ms. Portman's directive. Around November 2006, Ms. Maynard lodged "concerns" about Ms. Portman with the School Board's North Area Superintendent, Joanne Harrison, Ed.D., regarding the PMPs and the instruction of English Language Learners (ELL). Dr. Harrison requested Dr. Quintana and Sayra Hughes, Executive Director of Bilingual/Foreign Language/ESOL Education, to investigate the matter. Dr. Quintana investigated and prepared the report on the PMP concerns, which included findings by Dr. Quintana as to Ms. Maynard's concerns. Ms. Hughes investigated and prepared the report on the ELL concerns, which included findings by Ms. Hughes as to Ms. Maynard's concerns. Dr. Harrison provided a copy of both reports to Ms. Maynard. Included in the findings by Dr. Quintana were: (a) that a school's administration requesting the deletion of PMPs was appropriate; (b) that PMPs are intended to document support programming that was to occur during the school year; (c) that including a support program that was not initially implemented, but is currently being implemented, is appropriate; and (d) that the School Board should consider revising the parents' letter as to using the term "current" in that current could be interpreted to mean the present time. Also, included in the findings by Dr. Quintana were: the principal's direction to the teachers, as to the deadline for sending PMPs home by the first quarter report card, was equivalent to the School Board's deadline for sending PMPs home; (b) teacher signatures were not required on PMPs; (c) the principal has discretion as to whether to authorize the sending home of additional PMPs and, with the principal's consent, PMPs can be modified and sent home at any time throughout the school year; and (d) Ms. Maynard completed all of her students' PMPs. Ms. Maynard's concerns regarding ELLS were that Ms. Portman was denying ELLs equal access and had inappropriately adjusted Individual Reading Inventories (IRI) scores of ELLs. Ms. Hughes found that Ms. Maynard only had allegations or claims, but no documentation to substantiate the allegations or claims. As a result, Ms. Hughes concluded that Ms. Portman had committed no violations. As a result of the investigation by Dr. Quintana and Ms. Hughes, Dr. Harrison determined and advised Ms. Maynard, among other things, that no violations had been found in the areas of PMP process, management or implementation and students' equal access rights and that the investigation was officially closed and concluded. Further, Dr. Harrison advised Ms. Maynard that, should additional concerns arise, Ms. Portman, as Principal, was the first line of communication and that, if concerns or issues were not being resolved at the school level, the School Board had a process in place that was accessible. Ms. Maynard admits that she was not satisfied with the determination by Dr. Harrison. Ms. Maynard does not dispute that the deleting of the PMPs were directives from Ms. Portman and that Ms. Portman had the authority to give directives. Ms. Maynard disputes whether the directives were lawful directives and claims that to change the PMPs as directed would be falsifying the reading materials used by her students and, therefore, falsifying PMPs. A finding of fact is made that the directives were reasonable and lawful. Interaction with Students and Parents Ms. Maynard's class consisted of third graders. In addition to reading deficiencies indicated previously, some of her students also had behavioral issues. Ms. Maynard was heard by staff and teachers yelling at her students. For instance, the Media Specialist, Yvonne "Bonnie" Goldstein, heard Ms. Maynard yelling at her (Ms. Maynard's) students. The Media Center was across the hall from Ms. Maynard's classroom and had no doors. On one occasion, Ms. Goldstein was so concerned with the loudness of the yelling, she went to Ms. Maynard's room to determine whether something was wrong; Ms. Maynard assured her that nothing was wrong. Paraprofessionals working in the cafeteria have observed Ms. Maynard yelling at her students. Some teachers reported the yelling to Ms. Portman in writing. The Exceptional Student Education (ESE) Specialist and Administrative Designee, Marjorie DiVeronica, complained to Ms. Portman in writing regarding Ms. Maynard yelling at her students. A Haitian student was in Ms. Maynard's class for approximately two weeks during the beginning of the 2006-2007 school year. The student was not performing well in school. The student's father discussed the student's performance with Ms. Maynard. She indicated to the father that Ms. Portman's directives to teachers, regarding reading services, i.e., PMPs, had negatively impacted his son's performance. Ms. Maynard assisted the father in preparing a complaint with DOE, dated October 12, 2006, against Ms. Portman. Among other things, the complaint contained allegations against Ms. Portman regarding a denial of equal access to trained teachers and the reading curriculum in violation of Florida's Meta Consent Agreement and the Equal Education Opportunity Act. Ms. Portman was not aware that the parent had filed a complaint against her with DOE. Additionally, on October 16, 2006, Ms. Portman held a conference with the Haitian parent. Among other things, Ms. Portman discussed the reading services provided to the parent's child by Cypress Elementary. Ms. Portman provided a summary of the conference to Ms. Maynard. Ms. Maynard responded to Ms. Portman's summary on that same day. In Ms. Maynard's response, she indicated, among other things, that Ms. Portman did not give the Haitian parent accurate information regarding the child. Interaction with Staff (Non-Teachers) A system of awarding points to classes was established for the cafeteria at Cypress Elementary. A five-point system was established in which classes were given a maximum of five points daily. Classes entered in silence and departed in silence. Points were deducted if a class did not act appropriately. An inference is drawn and a finding of fact is made that the five-point system encouraged appropriate conduct by students while they were in the cafeteria. The cafeteria was overseen by Leonor Williamson, who was an ESOL paraprofessional, due to her seniority. The paraprofessionals were responsible for the safety of the students while the students were in the cafeteria. The paraprofessionals implemented the five-point system and came to Ms. Williamson with any problems that they had involving the cafeteria. On or about December 11, 2006, Ms. Maynard's students entered the cafeteria and were unruly. Ms. Williamson instructed the paraprofessional in charge of the section where the students were located to deduct a point from Ms. Maynard's class. Ms. Maynard was upset at Ms. Williamson's action and loudly expressed her displeasure to Ms. Williamson, demanding to know the basis for Ms. Williamson's action. Ms. Maynard would not cease complaining, so Ms. Williamson eventually walked away from Ms. Maynard. Ms. Williamson was required to oversee the safety of the students in the cafeteria and, in order to comply with this responsibility, she had to remove herself from the presence of Ms. Maynard. Ms. Maynard also complained to another teacher, who was attempting to leave the cafeteria with her own students. Additionally, the lunch period for each teacher's class is 30 minutes. On that same day, Ms. Maynard took her class from one section to another section in the cafeteria to serve ice cream to the students. As a result, Ms. Maynard surpassed her lunch period by approximately ten minutes and, at the same time, occupied another class' section. Ms. Williamson viewed Ms. Maynard's conduct as unprofessional during the incident and as abusing the scheduled time for lunch. On or about December 12, 2006, Ms. Williamson notified Ms. Portman about the incidents and requested Ms. Portman to remind Ms. Maynard of the cafeteria workers' responsibility to the students and the lunch period set-aside for each class. The incident on or about December 11, 2006, was not the first time that Ms. Williamson had instructed paraprofessionals to deduct points from Ms. Maynard's class. Each time points were deducted, Ms. Maynard became upset and loudly expressed her displeasure to Ms. Williamson. Ms. Williamson felt intimidated by Ms. Maynard. Also, paraprofessionals had deducted points from Ms. Maynard's class on their own accord without being directed to do so by Ms. Williamson. Whenever the deductions occurred, Ms. Maynard expressed her displeasure with the paraprofessionals' actions and often yelled at them in the presence of students and teachers. Another cafeteria situation occurred in December 2006. A paraprofessional, who was in charge of the section where Ms. Maynard's students ate lunch, observed some of the students not conducting themselves appropriately. The paraprofessional decided to deduct one point from Ms. Maynard's class and to indicate to Ms. Maynard why the point was deducted. Furthermore, the paraprofessional decided that the conduct did not warrant a disciplinary referral. Upon becoming aware of the incident, Ms. Maynard, who did not witness the conduct, wrote disciplinary referrals on the students involved and submitted them to Ms. Castiglione. The policy was that a referral could be written only by the staff person who observed the incident. Ms. Castiglione discussed the incident with the paraprofessional who indicated to Ms. Castiglione that the conduct did not warrant a disciplinary referral. As a result, Ms. Castiglione advised Ms. Maynard that, based upon the paraprofessional's decision and since Ms. Maynard did not witness the incident, Ms. Maynard's referrals would not be accepted and the matter was closed. Ms. Maynard did not agree with the paraprofessional's decision. Ms. Maynard approached the paraprofessional with disciplinary referrals on the students and presented the referrals and strongly encouraged the paraprofessional to sign the referrals. The paraprofessional refused to sign the referrals. Interaction with Staff (Teachers and Administrators) Safety procedures for the Media Center were established by the Media Specialist, Yvonne "Bonnie" Goldstein. At one point in time, Ms. Maynard wanted to bring all of her students to Distance Learning. Because of safety concerns, Ms. Goldstein advised Ms. Maynard that all of her students could not attend at the same time. However, Ms. Maynard brought all of her students anyway. Ms. Goldstein had no choice but to preclude Ms. Maynard from entering the Media Center. Additionally, at another point in time, Ms. Maynard requested, by email, that Ms. Goldstein provide all of her (Ms. Maynard's) students with New Testament Bibles. That same day, Ms. Goldstein advised Ms. Maynard that only two Bibles were in the Media Center and, therefore, the request could not be complied with. Disregarding Ms. Goldstein's reply, Ms. Maynard sent her students to the Media Center that same day in twos and threes, requesting the New Testament Bibles. When the two Bibles on-hand were checked-out, Ms. Goldstein had no choice but to offer the students alternative religious material. During 2005-2006 and 2006-2007, Terri Vaughn was the Team Leader of the third grade class. As Team Leader, Ms. Vaughn's responsibilities included being a liaison between team members and the administration at Cypress Elementary. Ms. Vaughn's personality is to avoid confrontation. Ms. Vaughn had an agenda for each team meeting. During team meetings, Ms. Maynard would deviate from the agenda and discuss matters of her own personal interest, resulting in the agenda not being completed. Also, Ms. Maynard would occasionally monopolize team meetings. Additionally, in team meetings, Ms. Maynard would indicate that she would discuss a problem student with parents who were not the student's parents. As time progressed, during team meetings, Ms. Maynard would engage in outbursts. She would become emotional on matters and raise her voice to the point of yelling. Also, it was not uncommon for Ms. Maynard to point her finger when she became emotional. At times, Ms. Maynard would have to leave the meetings and return because she had begun to cry. Additionally, at times after an outburst, Ms. Maynard would appear as if nothing had happened. Further, during team meetings, Ms. Maynard would excessively raise the subject of PMPs and accuse Ms. Portman of directing her to falsify PMPs or Title I documents. Ms. Vaughn did not report Ms. Maynard's conduct at team meetings to Ms. Portman. However, a written request by a majority of the team members, who believed that the team meetings had become stressful, made a request to the administration of Cypress Elementary for a member of the administration to attend team meetings; their hope was that an administrator's presence would cause Ms. Maynard to become calmer during the team meetings. An administrator began to attend team meetings. Marjorie DiVeronica, an Exceptional Student Education (ESE) Specialist, was an administrative designee, and Ms. Portman designated Ms. DiVeronica to attend the team meetings. Ms. DiVeronica would take notes, try to keep meetings moving, and report to Ms. Portman what was observed. Discussions were stopped by Ms. DiVeronica, and she would redirect the meetings to return to the agenda. Even with Ms. DiVeronica's presence, Ms. Maynard would raise her voice. At one team meeting attended by Ms. Portman, Ms. Maynard would not stop talking and the agenda could not move. Ms. Portman requested Ms. Maynard to stop talking, but Ms. Maynard would not stop. Ms. Portman placed herself in close proximity to Ms. Maynard in order to defuse the situation and raised her voice in order to get Ms. Maynard's attention. Ms. Portman dismissed the meeting. Additionally, at a team meeting, Ms. Maynard had become emotional. Ms. Castiglione was in attendance at that meeting. Ms. Maynard raised her voice and was shouting and yelling and pointing her finger at Ms. Castiglione. Ms. Maynard continued her conduct at the team meetings no matter whether Ms. Portman, Ms. Castiglione, or Ms. DiVeronica attended the meetings. Outside of team meetings, Ms. Vaughn reached the point that she avoided contact with Ms. Maynard due to Ms. Maynard's constantly complaining of matters that were of her (Ms. Maynard's) own personal interest, which resulted in long conversations. Ms. Vaughn's classroom was next to Ms. Maynard's classroom. A closet, with a desk in it, was in Ms. Vaughn's room. At least two or three times, in order to complete some work, Ms. Vaughn went into the closet and closed the door. Another team member, Elizabeth Kane, also made attempts to avoid Ms. Maynard. Ms. Kane viewed Ms. Maynard as making the team meetings stressful. Also, Ms. Kane was uncomfortable around Ms. Maynard due to Ms. Maynard's agitation and, furthermore, felt threatened by Ms. Maynard when Ms. Maynard became agitated. Additionally, Ms. Kane made a concerted effort to avoid Ms. Maynard outside of team meetings. Ms. Kane would "duck" into another teacher's classroom or into a stall in the bathroom to avoid Ms. Maynard. Barbara Young, a team member, tried to be someone to whom Ms. Maynard could come to talk. Ms. Young was never afraid of or felt threatened by Ms. Maynard. Further, regarding the cafeteria incident in December 2006, which Ms. Maynard did not witness, Ms. Maynard did not allow the incident to end with Ms. Castiglione's determination to agree with the paraprofessional's decision to not issue disciplinary referrals. Ms. Maynard, firmly believing that Ms. Castiglione's action was unfair, openly disagreed with the decision in the presence her (Ms. Maynard's) students and strongly encouraged some of the students to go to Ms. Castiglione and protest Ms. Castiglione's determination. Some of the students went to Ms. Castiglione regarding her disciplinary determination. Ms. Castiglione explained her determination to the students, including the process and the reasoning why she did what she did. The students were satisfied with the determination after hearing Ms. Castiglione's explanation. Further, the students indicated to Ms. Castiglione that they had no desire to go to her, but Ms. Maynard wanted them to do it. Ms. Maynard's action had undermined Ms. Castiglione's authority with the students. LaShawn Smith-Settles, Cypress Elementary's Guidance Counselor, never felt threatened by Ms. Maynard or viewed Ms. Maynard as being hostile towards her. However, Ms. Maynard did make her feel uncomfortable. A second grade teacher, Paja Rafferty, never felt threatened by Ms. Maynard. Excessive Emails Communication thru emails is the standard operating procedure at Cypress Elementary. However, Ms. Maynard engaged in excessive emails. Ms. Maynard's emails were on relevant areas. However, she would not only send the email to the staff member, whether teacher or administrator, who could directly respond to her, but would copy every teacher and administrator. This process and procedure used by Ms. Maynard resulted in massive emails being sent to staff who might or might not have an interest in the subject matter. One such staff person, who took action to stop receiving the emails, was Ms. Kane. Ms. Kane was inundated with Ms. Maynard's emails regarding matters on which Ms. Kane had no interest or concern. To stop receiving the emails, Ms. Kane sent Ms. Maynard an email, twice, requesting that Ms. Maynard remove her (Ms. Kane) from the copy list. However, Ms. Maynard did not do so. Due to the massive number of emails sent to Ms. Portman by Ms. Maynard, a significant portion of Ms. Portman's time was devoted to responding to the emails. Ms. Portman had less and less time to devote to her responsibilities as principal of Cypress Elementary. Eventually, Ms. Portman was forced to curtail Ms. Maynard's emails. None of Ms. Maynard's emails threatened teachers, staff, or students. Additional Directives During the time period regarding the PMPs, Ms. Portman became concerned that the parents of Ms. Maynard's students were being misinformed by Ms. Maynard as to the students' performance and as to Cypress Elementary and Ms. Portman addressing the students' performance. On November 3, 2006, Ms. Portman held a meeting with Ms. Maynard. Also, in attendance were Ms. Castiglione and Patricia Costigan, Broward Teachers Union (BTU) Steward. During the meeting, among other things, Ms. Portman directed Ms. Maynard not to have conferences with a parent unless an administrator was present, either Ms. Portman or Ms. Castiglione, in order to assure that parents were not misinformed. A summary of the meeting was prepared on November 6, 2006. A copy of the summary was provided to Ms. Maynard and Ms. Costigan. Subsequently, Ms. Portman received a letter from a parent dated December 20, 2006. The parent stated, among other things, that the parent had approximately a two-hour telephone conversation, during the evening of December 19, 2006, with Ms. Maynard about the parent's child, who was a student in Ms. Maynard's class. Further, the parent stated that her son was referred to by Ms. Maynard as a "fly on manure." Even though Ms. Maynard denies some of the statements attributed to her by the parent and the time span of the telephone conversation, she does not deny that she had the telephone conversation with the parent. On December 20, 2006, Ms. Portman and Ms. Castiglione went to Ms. Maynard's classroom to remind Ms. Maynard of the directive. Ms Maynard was not in her classroom but was in another teacher's room, Barbara Young, with another teacher. Ms. Portman requested Ms. Maynard to come into Ms. Maynard's classroom so that she and Ms. Castiglione could talk with Ms. Maynard out of the presence of the other teachers. Ms. Maynard refused to leave Ms. Young's classroom indicating that whatever had to be said could be said in front of everyone, in front of witnesses. Ms. Portman, complying with Ms. Maynard's request, proceeded to remind Ms. Maynard of the directive to not conference with parents unless an administrator was present. Ms. Maynard became very agitated and yelled at them, indicating that she (Ms. Maynard) wanted what was said in writing and that she (Ms. Maynard) was not going to comply with the directive. Shortly before Winter break, on or about December 21, 2006, in the morning, Ms. Portman noticed Ms. Maynard by letter that a pre-disciplinary meeting would be held on January 10, 2006, regarding insubordination by Ms. Maynard. Among other things, the notice directed Ms. Maynard to "cease and desist all contact with parents" until the meeting was held. Later in the afternoon, after the administrative office was closed, Ms. Maynard returned to Ms. Portman's office. Ms. Maynard confronted Ms. Portman and Ms. Castiglione about the notice, wanting to know what it was all about. Ms. Maynard was very agitated and emotional, raising her voice and pointing her finger. Ms. Portman indicated to Ms. Maynard that the requirement was only to provide the notice, with the meeting to be held later. Ms. Portman asked Ms. Maynard several times to leave because the office was closed; Ms. Maynard finally left. After Ms. Maynard left Ms. Portman's office, Ms. Portman could hear Ms. Maynard talking to other staff. Ms. Portman was very concerned due to Ms. Maynard's agitation and conduct. Ms. Portman contacted the School Board's Professional Standards as to what to do and was told to request all employees, except day care, to leave. Ms. Portman did as she was instructed by Professional Standards, getting on the intercom system and requesting all employees, except for day care, to leave, not giving the employees the actual reason why they were required to leave. Unbeknownst to Ms. Portman, Ms. Maynard had departed Cypress Elementary before she (Ms. Portman) instructed the employees to leave. Regarding the afternoon incident, Ms. Maynard felt "helpless" at that point. She had been informed by Professional Standards to go to administration at Cypress Elementary with her concerns, who was Ms. Portman. Ms. Maynard viewed Ms. Portman as the offender, and, therefore, she was being told to go to offender to have her concerns addressed. On January 9, 2007, a Child Study Team (CST) meeting was convened to address the academic performance of a few of Ms. Maynard's students. Ms. Maynard had referred the students to the CST. The CST's purpose was to provide support for the student and the teacher by problem-solving, using empirical data to assist with and improve a child's academic performance and behavior, and making recommendations. No individual member can override a team's recommendation, only a principal could do that. On January 9, 2007, the CST members included, among others, Ms. DiVeronica, who was the CST's leader; Miriam Kassof, School Board Psychologist; and LaShawn Smith-Settles, Cypress Elementary's Guidance Counselor. Also, in attendance were Ms. Maynard and Ms. Castiglione, who, at that time, was an Intern Principal. During the course of the meeting, Ms. Maynard diverted the discussion from the purpose of the meeting to her wanting two of the students removed from her class. She began discussing the safety of the other students in the class, which was viewed, at first, as being well-meaning, however, when she insisted on the removal of the two students, she became highly emotional, stood-up, and was yelling. Members of the CST team attempted to de-escalate the situation, but Ms. Maynard was not willing to engage in problem solving and her actions were counterproductive. Due to Ms. Maynard's constant insistence on discussing the removal of the students from her class, the CST was not able to meet its purpose within the time period set- aside for the meeting. However, before the CST meeting ended, one of the recommendations made was for Ms. Maynard to collect daily anecdotal behavioral notes regarding one of the students and for the behavioral notes to be sent home to the student's parent. Ms. Castiglione gave Ms. Maynard a directive that, before the behavioral notes were sent home to the parent, the behavioral notes were to be forwarded to Ms. Castiglione for review and approval. Ms. Maynard resisted preparing behavioral notes, expressing that that plan of action would not help the situation. The CST members viewed Ms. Maynard's conduct as being unproductive, inappropriate, and unprofessional. On January 10, 2007, a pre-disciplinary meeting was held regarding Ms. Portman considering disciplinary action against Ms. Maynard for insubordination. Attendees at the meeting included Ms. Portman; Ms. Castiglione (at that time Intern Principal); Ms. Maynard; Jacquelyn Haywood, Area Director; Cathy Kirk, Human Resources; and Andrew David, Attorney for Ms. Maynard. The basis for the insubordination was Ms. Maynard's refusal to comply with Ms. Portman's directive for Ms. Maynard not to conference with parents unless an administrator was present. Ms. Portman pointed out that Ms. Maynard had a telephone conversation with a parent, regarding the parent's child, on December 19, 2006, without an administrator being present and showed Ms. Maynard the letter written by the parent to Ms. Portman, dated December 20, 2006. Ms. Maynard admitted only that she had the telephone conversation. Ms. Portman asked Ms. Maynard to provide a compelling reason as to why the disciplinary action should not be taken; Ms. Maynard did not respond. Ms. Portman reiterated the directive and advised Ms. Maynard that a letter of reprimand would be issued. A summary of the pre-disciplinary meeting was prepared. Ms. Maynard was provided a copy of the summary. On January 17, 2007, a written reprimand was issued by Ms. Portman against Ms. Maynard for failure to adhere to the administrative directive of not having a parent conference unless an administrator was present. The written reprimand stated, among other things, that Ms. Maynard had a parent's conference on the telephone with a student's parent without an administrator being present and that Ms. Maynard failed to present a compelling reason as to why no disciplinary action should be taken. Furthermore, the written reprimand advised Ms. Maynard that any further failure to perform consistent with the standards established for the effective and productive performance of her job duties, as a third grade teacher, would result in further disciplinary action up to and including a recommendation for termination of employment. Ms. Maynard received a copy of the written reprimand. After the Written Reprimand of January 17, 2007 Also, on January 17, 2007, Ms. Portman held a meeting with Ms. Maynard which was not a disciplinary meeting, but was a meeting for Ms. Portman to discuss her concerns and job expectations with Ms. Maynard. In addition to Ms. Portman and Ms. Maynard, attendees at the meeting included Ms. Castiglione; Jacqueline Haywood, Area Director; Cathy Kirk, Human Resources; and Mary Rutland, BTU Steward. Ms. Portman discussed five concerns and issued five directives. The first concern of Ms. Portman was Ms. Maynard's unprofessional behavior. The examples provided by Ms. Portman were Ms. Maynard's (a) yelling at paraprofessional staff in the cafeteria; (b) yelling at administrators, referencing the incident on December 20, 2006; and (c) continuing to publicly accuse Cypress Elementary's administrators of falsifying documents after an investigation had determined the accusation to be unfounded. Further, the directive that Ms. Portman issued to Ms. Maynard was to cease and desist all unprofessional and inappropriate behavior. Ms. Portman's second concern was unprofessional and inappropriate comments. The examples provided by Ms. Portman were Ms. Maynard's (a) indicating on December 20, 2006, while she was in Ms. Young's room, that she would not comply with the directives of which she was reminded by Ms. Portman; (b) speaking to a parent and referring to the parent's child as a "fly on manure"; and (c) telling parents, during conferences, that there was a problem at Cypress Elementary. Further, the directive that Ms. Portman issued to Ms. Maynard was to cease and desist all unprofessional and inappropriate comments. Additionally, Ms. Portman reminded Ms. Maynard that all notes were required to be submitted to administration for review no later than 1:00 p.m., except for student daily behavioral notes, which were to be submitted at 1:30 p.m. The third concern of Ms. Portman was continued dialogue of PMPs and ESOL issues. Ms. Portman indicated that the district had reviewed Ms. Maynard's issues and concerns and had responded to them. Further, the directive that Ms. Portman issued to Ms. Maynard was that the said issues were considered closed and that, if Ms. Maynard wished to pursue the said issues, she should contact her attorney. Ms. Portman's fourth concern was unmanageable emails sent by Ms. Maynard. The example provided by Ms. Portman was that she had received over 200 emails from Ms. Maynard. Ms. Portman indicated that the procedure that Ms. Maynard was required to follow when she (Ms. Maynard) had issues or concerns that needed to be addressed was (a) make an appointment with the administrator through the confidential secretary, identifying that person; and (b) provide the confidential secretary with the issue in writing. Only when (a) and (b) were complied with, would either Ms. Portman or Ms. Castiglione meet with Ms. Maynard, during Ms. Maynard's planning time, on the issue at the appointment time. Further, the directive that Ms. Portman issued to Ms. Maynard was that Ms. Maynard would cease and desist sending issues via emails and that conferences would be scheduled per the procedure outlined. The fifth concern of Ms. Portman's was protocol compliance. Ms. Portman indicated that the proper procedure for Ms. Maynard to adhere to when Ms. Maynard had a complaint or concern was to first, contact her (Ms. Maynard's) supervisor, not the area office, wherein Ms. Maynard would be provided with an opportunity to meet with an administrator. Additionally, as to meeting with an administrator, (a) Ms. Maynard would meet with either Ms. Portman or Ms. Castiglione; (b) an appointment with the administrator would be made through the confidential secretary, identifying that person; (c) Ms. Maynard would provide the confidential secretary with the issue or concern in writing; (d) only when (b) and (c) were complied with, would either Ms. Portman or Ms. Castiglione meet with Ms. Maynard, during Ms. Maynard's planning time, on the issue or concern at the appointment time; (e) administration would address the issue or concern and after the issue or concern had been presented to administration, Ms. Maynard was to consider the issue or concern closed. Further, the directive that Ms. Portman gave to Ms. Maynard was that Ms. Maynard was to comply with the protocol outlined for all of her concerns. Moreover, Ms. Portman indicated that a failure by Ms. Portman to follow all of the directives would result in disciplinary action up to and including termination from employment. A summary of the meeting of concerns and job expectations was prepared. On January 18, 2007, Ms. Portman noticed Ms. Maynard by letter that a pre-disciplinary meeting would be held on January 29, 2007, regarding gross insubordination by Ms. Maynard. Among other things, the notice directed Ms. Maynard to "cease and desist all communication with parents both written and oral" until the meeting was held. The notice was hand-delivered to Ms. Maynard at Cypress Elementary. On or about January 22, 2007, Ms. Portman held a meeting to develop a strategic plan to help motivate one of Ms. Maynard's students, who was in foster care, in the areas of academics and behavior. In addition to Ms. Portman, attendees at the meeting included, among others, Ms. Castiglione; Ms. Smith-Settles; and the student's Guardian Ad-Litem. During the meeting, the Guardian Ad-Litem indicated that Ms. Maynard had telephoned the student's foster parent, engaged in more than a 45-minute conversation, and, during the telephone conversation, made negative comments about Cypress Elementary. On January 23, 2007, Ms. Portman provided Ms. Maynard with a Notice of Special Investigative/Personnel Investigation (Notice) by hand-delivery. The Notice stated, among other things, that the investigation regarded allegations that Ms. Maynard was creating a hostile environment. The Notice directed Ms. Maynard not to engage anyone, connected with the allegations, in conversation regarding the matter and advised that a violation of the directive could result in disciplinary action for insubordination. Further, the Notice advised Ms. Maynard that, if she had any question regarding the status of the investigation, she should contact Joe Melita, Executive Director of Professional Standards and Special Investigative Unit, providing his contact telephone number. The Notice was provided to Ms. Maynard as a result of Ms. Portman making a request for the investigation on January 17, 2007. The request indicated that the allegations were: (1) yelling at paraprofessional staff in the cafeteria; (2) yelling at both the principal and assistant principal on December 20, 2006; (3) accusing the principal of falsifying documents even after the school district investigation found the accusation unwarranted; (4) not complying with directives; and (5) accusing the principal of lying to a parent at a conference. The pre-disciplinary meeting noticed for January 29, 2007, was not held due to the placing of Ms. Maynard under investigation. On or about January 25, 2007, Ms. Maynard was temporarily reassigned to the School Board's Textbook Warehouse by Mr. Melita. Temporary reassignment is standard operating procedure during an investigation. Teachers are usually temporarily reassigned to the Textbook Warehouse. Because of the investigation, Ms. Maynard could not return to Cypress Elementary or contact anyone at Cypress Elementary without Mr. Melita's authorization. The SIU investigator assigned to the case was Frederick Davenport. On August 14, 2007, Investigator Davenport went to the Textbook Warehouse to serve a notice of reassignment on Ms. Maynard from Mr. Melita that her reassignment was changed immediately and that she was reassigned to Crystal Lake Community Middle School. The notice of reassignment required Ms. Maynard's signature. Investigator Davenport met with Ms. Maynard in private in the conference room and advised her of his purpose, which was not to perform any investigative duties but to serve the notice of reassignment and obtain her signature. Ms. Maynard refused to sign the notice of reassignment because it was not signed by Mr. Melita and left. Investigator Davenport contacted Professional Standards and requested the faxing of an executed notice of reassignment by Mr. Melita to the Textbook Warehouse. Professional Standards complied with the request. Investigator Davenport met again with Ms. Maynard in private in the conference room. Ms. Maynard refused to sign the executed notice of reassignment. She felt threatened by Investigator Davenport and ran from the room into the parking area behind the Textbook Warehouse at the loading dock. A finding of fact is made that Investigator Davenport did nothing that the undersigned considers threatening. Investigator Davenport did not immediately follow Ms. Maynard but eventually went to the steps next to the loading dock, however, he did not approach Ms. Maynard in the parking lot. Ms. Maynard refused to talk with Investigator Davenport, expressing her fear of him, and contacted the Broward County Sheriff's Office (BSO). A BSO deputy came to the parking lot. After Ms. Maynard discussed the situation with the BSO deputy and a friend of Ms. Maynard's, who arrived at the scene, she signed the notice of reassignment. Investigator Davenport delivered the notice of reassignment to Professional Standards. Investigator Davenport completed his investigation and forwarded the complete investigative file and his report to his supervisor for approval. At that time, his involvement in the investigation ended. His supervisor presented the investigation to Professional Standards. On or about September 19, 2007, the Professional Standards Committee found probable cause that Ms. Maynard had created a hostile work environment and recommended termination of her employment. The Flyer On April 27, 2009, a town hall meeting was held by the School Board at the Pompano Beach High School's auditorium. That town hall meeting was one of several being held the same night by the School Board. The process and procedure for the town hall meeting included (a) all persons who wished to speak were required to sign-up to speak and (b), if they desired to distribute documents, prior to distribution, the documents were required to be submitted and receive prior approval. Security was at the auditorium, and Investigator Davenport was one of the security officers. During the town hall meeting, an unidentified man rose from his seat, began to talk out-of-turn and loud, was moving toward the front where School Board officials were located, and was distributing a flyer. The actions of the unidentified man got the attention of Investigator Davenport and caused concern about the safety of the School Board officials. Investigator Davenport and the other security officer approached the unidentified man, obtained the flyer, and escorted him out of the auditorium. Once outside, the unidentified man indicated, among other things, that he had not obtained prior approval to distribute the flyer. The unidentified man did not identify who gave him the flyer. Investigator Davenport observed that the flyer was placed on most of the vehicles in the auditorium's parking lot. Once Investigator Davenport and his fellow security officer were convinced that the unidentified man was not a threat to the School Board officials, they released the unidentified man who left the area. Neither Investigator Davenport nor his fellow security officer saw Ms. Maynard at the town hall meeting or had any indication that she had been there. Neither Investigator Davenport nor his fellow security officer had any indication that Ms. Maynard had requested the man to distribute the flyer. The flyer was signed by Ms. Maynard and dated April 27, 2009. The heading of the flyer contained the following: "PARENTS FOR FULL DISCLOSURE"; an email address; and "PROTECT YOUR CHILDREN." The content of the flyer included statements that Ms. Maynard was a teacher in 2006 at Cypress Elementary and was directed twice by her administrators in emails to falsify Title I documents; that she was directed to mislead parents about materials and services that the students were legally entitled to; that many of the students failed because they were denied the materials and services; that she refused to follow the directives and filed complaints with the proper authorities; that in 2008, Ms. Portman, who gave the directives to Ms. Maynard, was removed from Cypress Elementary, along with Ms. Murphins and Dr. Harrison--the flyer also indicated the new locations of the individuals; that persons, who were interested in learning how to prevent themselves from being misinformed and to protect their children from being denied the materials and services, should contact Ms. Maynard at the email address on the flyer; and that parents who gather together have more power than teachers to influence the school districts. Ms. Maynard had no determinations or proof to support any of the allegations in the flyer, only her belief. Recognizing that the flyer contained statements similar to the statements of his investigative report, Investigator Davenport forwarded the flyer to Mr. Melita. Ms. Maynard admits that she prepared the flyer and signed it. She indicates that an individual who claimed to be a member of the parent group, Parents For Full Disclosure, contacted and met with her. That individual, who also did not reveal her identity, requested Ms. Maynard to prepare the flyer and informed Ms. Maynard that the flyer would be distributed at the town hall meeting. Filing Various Complaints with Investigative Agencies Ms. Maynard filed various complaints with public investigative agencies regarding: harassment during the investigation; minority teachers being investigated, reassigned to the Textbook Warehouse, and not receiving annual evaluations; and the flyer. The public investigative agencies included the FBI, Broward County EEOC, federal EEOC, Florida Public Service Commission, and Florida Commission on Human Relations. No evidence was presented to show that Ms. Maynard was prohibited from filing the complaints. Contract Status At the time of the investigation of Ms. Maynard in January 2007 for creating a hostile work environment, she was under a continuing contract. Further, at the time that Professional Standards determined probable cause, on or about September 19, 2007, that Ms. Maynard had created a hostile work environment, she was under a continuing contract. Ms. Maynard testified that, on November 2, 2007, she received and signed a professional services contract, a fact which the School Board did not refute. A finding of fact is made that, on November 2, 2007, she received and signed a professional services contract. Employment Requiring a Teaching Certificate At the time of hearing, Ms. Maynard had not found employment requiring a teaching certificate since being suspended, without pay and benefits, by the School Board on or about March 18, 2008.
Recommendation Based on the foregoing Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, it is RECOMMENDED that the Commissioner of Education enter a final order: Finding that Doreen Maynard committed Counts 2 (only as to gross immorality), 3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 12, 15, and 16; Dismissing Counts 1, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, and 17; and Suspending Doreen Maynard's educator's certificate for three years, with denial of an application for an educator's certificate for the three-year period, and, after completion of the suspension, placing her on probation for one year under terms and conditions deemed appropriate by the Commissioner of Education. DONE AND ENTERED this 21st day of July, 2011, in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida. S ERROL H. POWELL Administrative Law Judge Division of Administrative Hearings The DeSoto Building 1230 Apalachee Parkway Tallahassee, Florida 32399-3060 (850) 488-9675 SUNCOM 278-9675 Fax Filing (850) 921-6847 www.doah.state.fl.us Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 21st day of July, 2011.
The Issue The issues are whether Petitioner has just cause to dismiss Respondent for failing to attend work during duty hours and leaving his class unsupervised so as to constitute misconduct in office, in violation of Florida Administrative Code Rules 6A-6.056(2) and 6A-6.056(4).
Findings Of Fact Petitioner initially employed Respondent as a substitute teacher on February 26, 1990. From January 1991 through June 1991, Respondent was employed as a teacher at Petitioner's Braddock High School. From August 1991 through May 1993, Respondent was employed as a teacher at Petitioner's Coral Park Senior High School. From January 1994 through May 1994, Respondent worked as a substitute teacher at various of Petitioner's schools. From March 1994 through June 1994, Respondent was employed as a teacher at Petitioner's Miami Central Senior High School. Starting in August 1994, Petitioner employed Respondent as a teacher at Miami Coral Park Senior High School. He was continuously employed at this school, except for a suspension from March 13 through April 24, 2014, until Petitioner suspended him on April 13, 2016, for the acts and omissions that are the subject of this proceeding. Spring 2006 marked the first recorded instances of Respondent's attendance problems. On April 5, 2006, Petitioner issued warning memoranda due to Respondent's tardiness. On April 28, 2006, Petitioner summarized a Conference-for-the- Record (CFR) for Respondent's repeated tardiness in reporting for work. A few years later, attendance problems emerged again, evidently at a much greater volume. On March 6, 2013, Respondent failed to report to work at the required time and never called to advise the administration that he would be late. He had also been tardy and failed to call on the two preceding days, as well as on 13 other days during the 2012-13 school year. On March 6, 2013, Petitioner issued a Memorandum of Concern. Respondent was tardy three more days after receiving the memorandum, so, on May 22, 2013, Petitioner issued a CFR summary directing Respondent to report to work on time. On October 15, 2013, Petitioner issued a memorandum determining that Respondent had been selling candy to students without authorization. On November 6, 2013, Petitioner issued a CFR summary containing directives about attendance and selling candy to students. On January 13, 2014, Petitioner issued a CFR summary determining that Respondent had used vulgar language at students, thrown a toilet-paper roll at one student, and commanded the student to get the "fuck" out of his classroom. Petitioner's representatives asked for Respondent's resignation, but he declined to resign. Respondent countered that he was having a difficult year because the administration had "changed drastically" his schedule, and the science department chair had "bullied" him. Before Petitioner had determined the discipline for this offense, on January 28, 2014, Petitioner issued a CFR summary determining that Respondent had taken students off campus in his vehicle, often leaving students unsupervised to pick flowers from a garden for a lab experiment. In response to this charge, Respondent declared that "things have changed and [he] realize[d] that it is a new day." The CFR summary noted that Respondent also had often left his students in the classroom unsupervised; used disparaging language toward students, including calling one student, "retarded"; and kissed the top of the head of a female student. Petitioner's representative offered Respondent the option of resignation, which he again declined. On March 7, 2014, Respondent accepted an offer of a 30-day suspension, evidently for the offenses noted in the preceding paragraph, and he served this suspension from March 12 through April 23, 2014. After the calamitous 2013-14 school year, during which he was disciplined on four occasions, Respondent's offenses focused exclusively on attendance. On February 2, 2015, Petitioner issued an Absence and Tardiness from Worksite Directives Memorandum. This noted absences and tardies on 22 days of the still-ongoing 2014-15 school year. On February 11, 2015, Petitioner issued a CFR summary detailing Respondent's history of nonattendance, noting, in particular, that on January 9, 2015, at about 9:50 a.m., Respondent left his classroom unattended, and several students accessed his computer and changed their grades. Petitioner's representatives advised Respondent that his repeated failure to adhere to directives demanding that he adhere to basic attendance policies would result in gross insubordination upon recurrence. At the start of the 2015-16 school year, Petitioner issued a Absence/Tardiness Directives Reminder memorandum, advising Respondent that the February 11 CFR summary continued to apply. On September 22, 2015, Petitioner issued a Reminder of Absence from the Worksite Directives and a reminder of sign- in procedures. However, between September 22 and October 27, 2015, Respondent failed to sign in on 21 occasions. On October 27, 2015, Petitioner issued a Professional Responsibilities Memorandum covering these 21 violations of Petitioner's attendance policy, and, on November 4, 2015, Petitioner issued a CFR summary reprimanding Respondent for his failure to adhere to attendance policies following a meeting to which Respondent was 20 minutes late. For the preceding 19 months, Respondent had displayed repeated disregard for his basic professional responsibilities, including even attendance. Given the number of violations in a relative brief span, Respondent's compliance with policies would need to improve to rise to the point that it could be described as checkered. While facing discipline for the absences and tardies documented in the October 27 memorandum, two days later, Respondent left the school campus at about 10:00 a.m. to go home and sleep, not informing anyone that he was leaving the campus and not returning to teach his sixth-period class, which, unsupervised, was found milling around a hallway after Respondent had chosen to transform himself from a professional employee to a "no call/no show." The applicable collective bargaining agreement between Petitioner and the union of its instructional employees (CBA) "recognize[s] the principle of progressive discipline," but also requires that the "degree of discipline shall be reasonably related to the seriousness of the offense." CBA, Article XXI, Section 1.A.1. The CBA provides for the suspension or dismissal of instructional employees, as provided by Florida Statutes. Id. at Section 1.B.1.a.
Recommendation It is RECOMMENDED that Petitioner enter a final order finding just cause for dismissing Respondent for gross insubordination in repeatedly refusing Petitioner's directives that he attend school and supervise his students. DONE AND ENTERED this 27th day of September, 2016, in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida. S ROBERT E. MEALE Administrative Law Judge Division of Administrative Hearings The DeSoto Building 1230 Apalachee Parkway Tallahassee, Florida 32399-3060 (850) 488-9675 Fax Filing (850) 921-6847 www.doah.state.fl.us Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 27th day of September, 2016. COPIES FURNISHED: Kim M. Lucas, Esquire Miami Dade County Public Schools School Board Attorney's Office 1450 Northeast Second Avenue, Suite 430 Miami, Florida 33132 (eServed) Christopher J. La Piano Miami Dade County Public Schools School Board Attorney's Office 1450 Northeast Second Avenue, Suite 430 Miami, Florida 33132 (eServed) Leonel Marrero 1621 Southwest 93rd Court Miami, Florida 33165 Matthew Mears, General Counsel Department of Education Turlington Building, Suite 1244 325 West Gaines Street Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0400 Alberto M. Carvalho, Superintendent Miami-Dade County School Board 1450 Northeast Second Avenue, Suite 912 Miami, Florida 33132-1308 Pam Stewart, Commissioner of Education Department of Education Turlington Building, Suite 1514 325 West Gaines Street Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0400
Findings Of Fact Luis Ortiz was a seventh grade student at Nautilus Junior High School during the 1984-85 school year until his assignment to the alternative school. Ortiz is 13 years old and was born on March 11, 1972. Prior to his enrollment in junior high school in 1984, Ortiz was an A and B student who exhibited good behavior. He did not adjust well to the new school at which he began junior high school. Ortiz was involved in eight incidents of misbehavior at Nautilus. On October 29, 1984, Ortiz was rude, discourteous; failed to complete an assignment and engaged in general disruptive behavior. He was placed on indoor suspension for general disruptive behavior and defiance of school authority on December 6, 1984. On January 11, 1985, Ortiz was referred for discipline for general disruptive behavior, use of provocative language and defiance of school authority. He was referred for counseling for general disruptive behavior, being rude and discourteous, and cutting class on January 25, 1985. Ortiz was placed on outdoor suspension for general disruptive behavior and defiance of school authority on January 28, 1985. Ortiz' behavior appeared to improve and he was not involved in further disciplinary incidents until April 2, 1985, when he was again placed on outdoor suspension for general disruptive behavior end defiance of school authority. He was recommended for assignment to opportunity school for general disruptive behavior and defiance of school authority on May 15, 1985. Before he was reassigned to opportunity school, Ortiz was reprimanded for general disruptive behavior, use of provocative reprimanded for general disruptive behavior, use of provocative language, defiance of school authority, and being rude and discourteous. Ortiz has been somewhat unsuccessful academically in his first year in junior high school. He was failing three classes before his last outdoor suspension and assignment to opportunity school. He then failed all of his subjects because he failed to complete his course work and failed to take his final exams. Ortiz must repeat seventh grade. The School Board failed to present any evidence of efforts made to provide assistance to Ortiz regarding this lack of success in academics. In fact, the school board's only witness had no knowledge of Ortiz' grades or behavior prior to beginning seventh grade at Nautilus. Additionally, the school board's witness provided no details about the actual misbehavior of Ortiz. Instead, Smith merely read from a computer printout, without specifying the nature of the acts which lead to the disciplinary referrals. It is therefore impossible to determine if Ortiz' acts were of a major or minor nature. Dennis Segall, a teacher who knew Ortiz from elementary school, has continued to work with Ortiz in the last year. According to Segall, Ortiz was successful and well-behaved prior to the 1984-85 school year. He recognizes that Ortiz' behavior changed at Nautilus and states that Ortiz knows he "messed up" at Nautilus and is ready to change his attitude. Mrs. Ortiz moved during the summer of 1985, and now resides in a different school district. If Ortiz is allowed to return to the regular school program, he would attend Citrus Grove Junior High School.
Recommendation Based upon the foregoing Findings of Facts and Conclusions of Law, it is RECOMMENDED that the School Board of Dade County enter a Final Order assigning Luis Ortiz to the regular school program. DONE and ENTERED this 26th of September, 1985, in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida. DIANE K. KIESLING Hearing Officer Division of Administrative Hearings The Oakland Building 2009 Apalachee Parkway Tallahassee, FL 32301 (904) 488-9675 FILED with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 26th day of September, 1985. COPIES FURNISHED: Jackie Gabe, Esq. Suite 800, 300 Executive Plaza 3050 Biscayne Boulevard Miami, FL 33137 Mrs. Maeva Hipps School Board Clerk 1450 N.E. 2nd Avenue Room 401 Miami, FL 33132 Dr. Leonard Britton Superintendent of Schools Dade County Public Schools 1450 N.E. 2nd Avenue Miami, FL 33132 Ms. Esther Ortiz 1255 S.W. 1st Street Apartment 403 Miami, FL 33135
The Issue Whether Petitioner, Duval County School Board, had just cause to suspend Respondent without pay for seven days for the reasons specified in the agency action letter.
Findings Of Fact Jurisdiction Petitioner, Duval County School Board, is the constitutional entity authorized to operate, control, and supervise the public schools within Duval County. See Art. IX, § 4(b), Fla. Const.; § 1001.32, Fla. Stat. Petitioner is authorized to discipline instructional staff and other school employees. See § 1012.22(1)(f), Fla. Stat. Mr. Sawdy was employed as a teacher at Lake Shore in Duval County, Florida, from 2011 through June 2018. During the 2016-2017 school year, Mr. Sawdy taught civics to seventh grade students. During the time he was a teacher at Lake Shore, Mr. Sawdy received an effective or highly effective rating on his performance evaluations. Mr. Sawdy has never received discipline during his tenure as a teacher. Specifically, during the time that he had worked at Lake Shore, he was never disciplined for failure to adequately supervise students. After the 2017-2018 school year, Mr. Sawdy relocated to North Carolina and is serving as a teacher there. Background The incident that served as the basis for this proceeding occurred on May 2, 2017. Mr. Sawdy’s classroom was located in a portable unit with windows at Lake Shore. Generally, Mr. Sawdy would have a structured lesson for the class period. However, on this day the students in the class returned from a field trip in the middle of the third period at approximately 1:30 p.m. The students were instructed to go to their designated class and remain there until the fourth class period. The field trip was to the Diamond D Ranch, a farm in Jacksonville, Florida. There were approximately 20 students who went to Mr. Sawdy’s classroom after the field trip. As was the typical case when students returned from a field trip, the students were described as rowdy. As a result, Mr. Sawdy permitted the students to work on note cards and listen to music. The music was from Hamilton, the musical, which was used to teach the students about the historical figure, Alexander Hamilton. Although music was playing, the students could hear each other. The lights were off, but you could see in the room because the windows allowed sufficient ambient light. The School Board alleged that Mr. Sawdy allowed a group of students in his class to participate in an inappropriate game. One of the students from the group included R.G. The group was located at the back of the classroom. The testimony from various witnesses about what happened in the classroom on May 2, 2017, varied in several areas. Student Testimony Student C.A. C.A. testified that when the class returned to the classroom, Mr. Sawdy did not have a specific lesson. He played music and allowed students to move freely. According to the diagram of the room, C.A. was sitting near R.G., with one chair between them, in the group. C.A. testified that he witnessed R.G. lift her shirt, exposing her breasts. C.A. described the event as “flashing” that happened quickly. C.A. testified that Mr. Sawdy was sitting at his desk at the front of the room when R.G. lifted her shirt, which was farther away from R.G. than was C.A. C.A. credibly testified that Mr. Sawdy was strict regarding discipline for inappropriate behavior. If Mr. Sawdy had seen R.G.’s conduct, he would have called her parents or referred her to the principal. C.A. testified that he did not see anyone kissing or touching private parts. At some point during the class, C.A. slapped D.B. on the back of her thigh. C.A. testified that Mr. Sawdy took him outside the classroom to discipline him for hitting D.B., which redirected his behavior. Student D.B. D.B. testified that Mr. Sawdy’s class is usually laid back and there is even less structure after a field trip. After the field trip, Mr. Sawdy instructed students to work on note cards. While music was playing, they could hear each other. While the lights were off, they could see each other because of the lights from the windows. Turning off the lights was a common practice of other teachers at Lake Shore as well. D.B. was sitting at a desk on the opposite side of the group from R.G. D.B. recalled that Mr. Sawdy was at his desk working on his computer. There were students sitting between R.G. and Mr. Sawdy. D.B. testified that she saw K.2/ lick R.G.’s breast, which happened within two seconds. D.B. credibly testified that she did not see anyone else expose their breasts or kiss anyone. Student H.P. H.P. was sitting near the group. She testified that although music was playing, it was not so loud that she could not hear. She testified that she was aware that a game was taking place. However, she did not see anyone kiss anyone, or engage in any inappropriate activity. H.P. testified that Mr. Sawdy was doing paperwork, and she did not see him walk around during class. However, H.P. credibly testified that Respondent would discipline students if he aware that they misbehaved. Student K.M. K.M. was sitting at the same table as H.P., near the group. In fact, she was sitting closer to R.G. than H.P. K.M. testified that Mr. Sawdy was sitting at his desk working on his laptop. However, she saw him walk around the classroom “one or two times.” K.M. testified that Mr. Sawdy instructed students that it would be a free day because they had returned from the field trip. During the class, Mr. Sawdy turned on music from Hamilton. K.M. stated that she witnessed C.A. slap D.B.’s thigh and saw Mr. Sawdy remove C.A. from the classroom to discipline him for his actions. Despite her close proximity to the group, K.M. did not see anyone kiss anyone, lift their shirt, or lick anyone. K.M. traveled to Europe for a field trip chaperoned by Mr. Sawdy in June 2018. She testified that he did well as a chaperone. Student C.W. C.W. testified that Mr. Sawdy permitted students to listen to music and hang out after the field trip. C.W. was sitting near the windows, near the corner of the class, but closer to the group than Mr. Sawdy. She characterized the group as “troublemakers.” She stated that Mr. Sawdy warned the group to settle down several times. Despite her criticism of the group, C.W. did not see anyone kiss or lick anyone, or otherwise engage in inappropriate activity. Student J.B. J.B. testified that after the field trip, Mr. Sawdy turned on a video of Bill Nye, “the science guy,” on the television. Since students were not watching the video, Mr. Sawdy turned on music. At some point, Mr. Sawdy told the group of students to quiet down because they were being loud. J.B. testified that Mr. Sawdy would discipline students who misbehaved by talking to them or issuing a referral to the principal’s office. J.B. stated that he was not aware of a game of truth or dare being played at the time. He also credibly testified that he did not see anyone kiss anyone, lift up his or her shirt, or see anyone do anything inappropriate. Student F.G. When F.G. and the other students returned to class, Mr. Sawdy instructed them to watch the Bill Nye video and work on note cards. Music from the musical Hamilton was playing toward the end of class, but it was not too loud. F.G. testified that Mr. Sawdy was sitting at his desk during class, but he walked around a few times. Although F.G. was sitting close to the group, she did not know that any inappropriate activity occurred until a few weeks later. F.G. credibly testified that she did not see anyone dancing, kissing, or engaging in inappropriate touching. F.G. also confirmed the testimony of C.A. and D.B. that Mr. Sawdy would discipline students who misbehaved, beginning with a warning outside the classroom, followed by a phone call to their parents and then, a referral to the principal. None of the students who testified stated that they had concerns for their safety or the safety of other students in the class. Although subpoenaed, the complaining student, K.A.M. did not appear at the final hearing.3/ Mr. Sawdy’s Testimony Mr. Sawdy also testified at the final hearing. He stated that he chaperoned a group of students on a field trip to Diamond D Ranch. When the students returned from the trip, they were instructed to go to his classroom. No other teachers or teaching professionals were in the classroom at that time. Mr. Sawdy testified that students are usually more relaxed after field trips and would benefit from a less restrictive teaching class period. As a result, Mr. Sawdy played music from Hamilton and instructed the students to work on note cards. The lights were off, but you could see because of ambient light. Mr. Sawdy credibly testified that he had no knowledge of any inappropriate conduct in his classroom on May 2, 2017, until Mr. Gottberg told him about the complaint regarding inappropriate activity in his classroom. If he had seen anything inappropriate, he would have addressed the actors accordingly. He described the instance where he counseled C.A. Mr. Sawdy’s testimony was consistent with that of C.A. and D.B., when he testified that he heard a slap, turned in the direction that he heard it and saw C.A. looking strange. He took C.A. outside the classroom and counseled him for hitting D.B. Subsequent to May 2, 2017, Mr. Sawdy planned and chaperoned a field trip to Europe with 10 middle school students, which took place in June 2018. The principal of each student’s school approved the trip to Europe without objection. Furthermore, there were no parents that objected to Mr. Sawdy chaperoning the students on the trip. Specifically, students M.W. (who did not testify at hearing) and K.M. were in the class on the date in question and still attended the trip to Europe without objection from their parents. There is no reason to believe or evidence to support that Mr. Sawdy would not have disciplined the students engaging in the activity alleged if he had knowledge of their conduct. Moreover, based on his experience with the class, there was no indication to Mr. Sawdy that the students would have the propensity to engage in the alleged conduct. The evidence demonstrates that the incident was, at most, a matter of two students surreptitiously engaging in unexpected inappropriate activity. There was no evidence offered to demonstrate that the alleged student conduct harmed the health or safety of the students in the class. Even if it is determined that the allegations on their face would demonstrate actual harm, rule 6A-10.081(2)(a)1. requires a showing that Respondent failed to make reasonable efforts to protect students from such harm. Gerald Robinson, as Comm’r of Educ. v. William Randall Aydelott, Case No. 12-0621PL, RO at 76 (Fla. DOAH Aug. 29, 2102; EPC Dec. 19, 2012). Investigation Mr. Gottberg was the principal at Lake Shore during the 2016-2017 school year. He testified that there was an expectation that teachers would maintain a safe environment for students through classroom management and disciplinary action when necessary. There was also an expectation, but not a requirement, that classroom instruction would take place from beginning of class until the end of class (bell-to-bell instruction). On May 3, 2017, Mr. Gottberg’s assistant informed him that there was a parent and student that had a complaint about inappropriate student activity in Mr. Sawdy’s classroom that had occurred on May 2, 2017. Mr. Gottberg briefly interviewed the student and ultimately, referred the complaint to the Office of Professional Standards. The student resource officer, Mary Alice Knouse, interviewed three of the 22 students who were in the class on May 2, 2017. Based on her interview of the students, she determined that other than K.A.M. and K.M., no students witnessed any inappropriate conduct. The investigator assigned to investigate the complaint, James Gregory, also interviewed students. He interviewed students involved in the alleged conduct events and randomly selected other students. He did not interview all the students in the classroom on May 2, 2017. Mr. Gottberg was instructed to prepare a report regarding the complaint, and he complied. At the direction of the Office or Professional Standards, but before the student interviews were completed, he recommended that Mr. Sawdy receive Step III or Step IV progressive disciplinary action. Mr. Gottberg described Mr. Sawdy as one of the best teachers at Lake Shore. While Mr. Gottberg was principal, he even approved the 10-day field trip to Europe, which was scheduled to take place after the incident on May 2, 2017. Allegations Not Pled in Notice The School Board made much of the lights being turned off in the room and the music playing. These allegations were not pled in the charges and, thus, may not be relied upon as a basis for the School Board’s action. Even if the School Board had pled allegations regarding the lights and music, the School Board failed to prove that these factors proved that Mr. Sawdy inadequately supervised the students in his classroom. At least five witnesses testified that although the lights were off, there was sufficient light from the windows to see in the classroom. Mr. Gottberg sent an email to the Lake Shore teachers the day following the incident directing them to keep the lights on in the classrooms. However, no witness testified that there was a rule or policy regarding keeping the lights on during classroom instruction prior to the incident. In addition, teachers and students testified that it was a common practice for the lights to be off in the classrooms because sufficient light was available by window. Several witnesses also testified that the music was not so loud that you could not hear. Mr. Sawdy’s Reputation Respondent has a good reputation with other educators and is known to be an effective teacher. Several of those teachers testified at hearing about their experience working with Mr. Sawdy. Zandra Bryant worked on the same team with Mr. Sawdy at Lake Shore for approximately four years. She testified that she had worked at Lake Shore for eight years. She described Mr. Sawdy as “wonderful teacher” who was very organized and attentive. She was also a chaperone for the field trip to Diamond D Ranch and characterized the students as being rowdy when they returned from the field trip. She confirmed Mr. Sawdy’s testimony that it would not be a good time to begin a structured lesson. Mallory Layton also worked with Mr. Sawdy. She described him as role model, attentive to students, including administering discipline when necessary. Similar to Ms. Bryant, she also testified that after a field trip, it is good practice to engage the students in a relaxed activity. Melissa Cash and Kasey Winter testified that Mr. Sawdy was a good teacher who had a respectful relationship with students. Ultimate Findings of Fact There is no question that the allegations were of a sensitive nature. The testimony varied in material aspects, and was not of such weight (preponderance of evidence) that it produced a firm belief that Mr. Sawdy failed to reasonably protect the safety of the students in his classroom. The allegations that students engaged in exposure and licking of private body parts was supported by a preponderance of evidence. However, even though the evidence supports a finding, by a slim margin, that students engaged in inappropriate conduct, it must also be determined whether Respondent failed to make reasonable efforts to protect students from harm. The testimony varied regarding where Mr. Sawdy was located when the student conduct occurred. The testimony was clear and consistent that Mr. Sawdy was in the classroom. D.B., J.B., and H.P. testified that Mr. Sawdy was sitting at his desk doing work. F.G. testified that Mr. Sawdy was at his desk during the class, but walked around a few times. K.M. testified that Mr. Sawdy walked around the room one to two times. The totality of the evidence supports a finding that Mr. Sawdy was at his desk at the front of the room during the class period, but he left his desk and walked around a few times. At the final hearing, six witnesses credibly testified that they never saw anyone kiss, lick, or otherwise engage in inappropriate conduct in Mr. Sawdy’s classroom on May 2, 2017. The evidence also supports that these students were sitting closer to the group and arguably, were in a better position to see the group’s activity. There is no dispute that Mr. Sawdy was not aware that a group of students had engaged in inappropriate conduct in his classroom on May 2, 2017. Based on the evidence presented at hearing, Petitioner did not prove by a preponderance of evidence that Mr. Sawdy inadequately supervised students in his classroom on May 2, 2017. Mr. Sawdy walked around the classroom and interacted with students. He had control of students to the extent that he even disciplined a student for playfully hitting another student. The evidence reflects that the alleged student conduct was an isolated event that happened, at most, within one to two seconds. The conduct was quite unusual and could not be reasonably anticipated. Petitioner failed to prove by a preponderance of evidence that Mr. Sawdy failed to make reasonable efforts to protect the students from harm. There was no evidence offered to support a finding by a preponderance of evidence that the student conduct was harmful to any student’s learning, or that the events adversely affected any student’s mental or physical health, or safety. Petitioner did not prove by a preponderance of evidence that there is just cause to suspend Mr. Sawdy without pay for seven days.
Recommendation Based on the foregoing Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, it is RECOMMENDED that the Duval County School Board: dismiss the charges against Respondent; dismiss the notice of recommendation of issuing a reprimand and suspension without pay for seven days; and to the extent there is a statute, rule, employment contract, or the Collective Bargaining Agreement authorize back pay as a remedy for Respondent’s wrongful suspension without pay; Respondent should be awarded full back pay and benefits. See Sch. Bd. of Seminole Cnty. v. Morgan, 582 So. 2d 787, 788 (Fla. 5th DCA 1991); Brooks v. Sch. Bd. of Brevard Cnty., 419 So. 2d 659, 661 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982). DONE AND ENTERED this 9th day of January, 2019, in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida. S YOLONDA Y. GREEN Administrative Law Judge Division of Administrative Hearings The DeSoto Building 1230 Apalachee Parkway Tallahassee, Florida 32399-3060 (850) 488-9675 Fax Filing (850) 921-6847 www.doah.state.fl.us Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 9th day of January, 2019.
The Issue This case is presented based upon an administrative complaint brought by Ralph D. Turlington, as Commissioner of Education, against Lloyd T. Cooper. The allegations set forth in this complaint pertain to the Respondent's conduct of serving alcoholic beverages to students and other minors below the age of 19 years. Respondent is also accused of inviting a student into his home, and while they were alone, serving an alcoholic beverage to her, which she drank in his presence. On this same occasion, Respondent is alleged to have given the student marijuana and to have kissed the student while in his apartment. These acts by Respondent purportedly are in violation of Subsection 231.28(1), Florida Statutes, in that Respondent is guilty of gross immorality and acts involving moral turpitude and has been guilty of personal conduct which seriously reduces his effectiveness as an employee of the Nassau County School Board. Respondent's acts are said to be contrary to Rule 6B-1.01, Florida Administrative Code, by his failure to achieve and sustain ethical conduct. Finally, Respondent is accused of a violation of Rule 6B-1.06(3)(a)(e) and (h), Florida Administrative Code, in that he has failed to make a reasonable effort to protect a student from conditions harmful to learning or to health and safety; has intentionally exposed a student to unnecessary embarrassment or disparagement; and has exploited a professional relationship with a student for professional gain or advantage.
Findings Of Fact This case was heard based upon Respondent's request for a formal Subsection 120.57(1), Florida Statutes, hearing to allow him to dispute the facts that underlie the administrative complaint. Respondent holds Teacher's Certificate No. 306317, which allows him to teach in secondary education in the areas of physical education, health education, and science. The teacher's certificate issued by the State of Florida, Department of Education, is valid through June 30, 1986. Respondent has been certified as a teacher in Florida since 1971. See Petitioner's Exhibit No. 1 admitted into evidence. From August 20, 1971, until his resignation in June, 1982, Respondent was employed as a classroom teacher by the Nassau County School System in Nassau County, Florida. In 1982, a week prior to the graduation of members of the senior class of Fernandina Beach High School, various graduation parties were held. Respondent held one of those parties at his apartment. That party occurred on Friday, May 21, 1982. There were no other teachers or adults in attendance at the party. A number of students who were still attending high school were invited to the party and Terri Jones, now Terri Coleman, was among those students. She attended the party, having been provided a map by Respondent to enable her to find his home. The location of Respondent's home at that time was in Fernandina Beach, Florida. This was the first occasion that Coleman had visited Respondent in his apartment. Coleman arrived at the Respondent's apartment around 8:00 p.m. on May 21, 1982. She stayed for approximately 45 minutes. When she entered, there were approximately 10 other high school students in attendance. Respondent was mixing alcoholic drinks for those students during the party. He offered to give Coleman an alcoholic beverage, but she declined. Cooper and other students were also smoking marijuana, which was retrieved from a container on a coffee table in his apartment. On the following Monday, May 24, 1982, Coleman attended another house party given by fellow students in the high school. There were approximately 50 persons at this party, including students of Fernandina Beach High School and other students. Respondent was in attendance; however, other teachers were not involved in the festivities. Coleman arrived at the party around 9:00 p.m. and stayed for approximately 30 minutes. Cooper was again observed mixing drinks which contained liquor. These drinks were served to students at the party. On Wednesday, May 26, 1982, Coleman attended another party for students in her high school. This date was prior to her graduation from Fernandina Beach High School. Coleman arrived at this party at around 7:00 p.m. Once there, she had someone purchase a six-pack of beer, and she drank two or three of those cans of beer while at the party. She remained at the party for approximately 2 hours. Later on, the evening of May 26, 1982, at approximately 9:00 p.m., she went to the home of the Respondent. She was uninvited. [In the way of background, Respondent did not teach classes in which Coleman was a student. He had coached an athletic team in which Coleman was a participant in her junior year in high school. He had also expressed his desire to ask her out for a date when she reached her majority. This had occurred while she was a student attending high school prior to May 26, 1982. On one other occasion, when Respondent had arrived at the high school under the influence of an alcoholic beverage, Respondent saw her and took her from the room where she had been observed and walked around the school grounds with her. Finally, in that instance, they went to the Respondent's classroom in the back portion of that area and he kissed her.] Respondent admitted Coleman to his apartment on the night of May 26, 1982. Once inside, she explained that she had just stopped by to "say hello for a minute". While in the apartment, Respondent and Coleman watched television, and he asked her if she wanted a mixed drink. She replied that she did not because she would drink her beer. Nonetheless, Respondent mixed a drink for Coleman which contained an alcoholic beverage. She drank part of the mixed drink. The container with the marijuana was still located on the coffee table, as was the case on May 21, 1982. Respondent removed marijuana from that container and began smoking the substance and offered it to Coleman who accepted the marijuana. The marijuana was being smoked through an apparatus containing water. Coleman also drank two more cans of beer while at the apartment. Finally, while seated on the couch, Respondent kissed Coleman as many as five times on the mouth. After staying for approximately an hour, Coleman took her leave. At no time during her visit to the apartment, did Respondent ask Coleman to leave or attempt to contact her parents. When she left his apartment, she was substantially influenced by the effect of substances consumed. Notwithstanding her condition, Respondent allowed her to drive. Coleman went home after stopping at the house where she had attended the party earlier in that evening. She stayed in that house for approximately 10 or 15 minutes on her second visit. Coleman was confronted by her mother after arriving home on the evening of May 26, 1982, and her mother found her to still be suffering from the effects of substances consumed. After questioning, Coleman's mother ascertained that her daughter had been to the home of Respondent and learned of the events that had transpired while Coleman was there. As a result, Mrs. Jones went to the high school and spoke to the Respondent. She identified herself as Coleman's mother, and gave her rendition of the events of the evening of May 26, 1982, which had been told to her by her daughter. At that time, Coleman was 18 and Respondent, in the face of that fact, did not seem impressed with the possible consequences that might occur if members of the Nassau County School Administration learned of his indiscretion. Jeanette Jones, Coleman's mother, advised Cooper that she was going to speak to the Superintendent of Schools, Craig Marsh, concerning the liaison between Respondent and Coleman. Mrs. Jones spoke to superintendent Marsh, and Marsh conducted an interview with Coleman. In that interview, Coleman related the events that transpired in the apartment of Respondent on May 26, 1982. In a subsequent conversation with the Respondent, Cooper told Marsh that Coleman had gone to his house on the night in question and he had invited her in and mixed her a drink and they smoked marijuana and sat on the couch and "smooched". Out of this conversation, Respondent submitted his resignation from his position with the Nassau County School Board. Marsh correctly asserts that Cooper's acts with Coleman have caused Respondent to lose his effectiveness as a teacher in the Nassau County School System. Furthermore, Marsh would not recommend that the Respondent be allowed to teach in high school either in Nassau County or any other school system in the State of Florida.
