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.
Findings Of Fact At all times material hereto, Respondent has held Florida teaching certificate number 087471 covering the areas of administration and supervision, economics, elementary education, and mentally retarded education. Her teaching certificate is valid through June 30, 1992. Respondent updated her certificate classifications to include the additional subject areas of math on April 26, 1988, and biology on June 26, 1988. Respondent holds both a Bachelor's and a Master's degree in education from the University of Miami and has completed all of the requirements, except for a dissertation, for a doctorate degree in education from the University of Miami. She has also received a graduate certificate in urban education, with academic excellence, from Florida International University. Respondent is 56 years old and had been a school teacher for the Dade County Public Schools for 33 years prior to her recent retirement. For the last 20 years of her career, Respondent taught mentally retarded children, and she was employed for the last 10 of those years as a teacher at Poinciana Park Elementary School in Dade County. During the 1988-89 and the 1989-90 school years, Respondent was assigned to teach a class of educable mentally handicapped children at Poinciana Park Elementary School. In February of 1989 Respondent intervened in a fight between students. She restrained one of the students involved in the fight by holding that student against a wall even though the student was kicking her. Cynthia Clark, the principal at Poinciana Park Elementary School, was assigned to that school in March of 1989. Based upon what she subsequently read in an investigative report, she gave Respondent a letter of reprimand for using force in interceding in the student fight in February of 1989. Petitioner offered no evidence that Respondent's use of force to stop the fight was inappropriate. On April 17, 1989, Jovon Jackson, one of Respondent's students, found a "sparker" outside of the school and brought it into the classroom with him. A "sparker" is a metal striker device which is used by students in the Dade County Public Schools to create a spark to light bunsen burners in science classes. As a certified science teacher, Respondent was familiar with the device and knew that the sparks given off were not hot or harmful and would not ignite general materials. Respondent saw the sparker in Jovon's possession shortly before lunch on that day while he was showing it to some of the other students. She took the device away from him but told him that she would return it to him later that day. During the afternoon, while she was working with students on an individual basis, she returned the sparker to Jovon and permitted him to take the students with whom she was not currently working into the darkened bathroom in the classroom one at a time in order to show his classmates how the device worked. She believed that the demonstration would be educational for her students to show them that sparks can be created by pieces of metal. During the demonstration, Karen Powers, the assistant principal at Poinciana Park Elementary School, came into Respondent's classroom and saw the boy taking students into the bathroom one at a time in the dark. She became concerned that Respondent would permit a boy and a girl to go into the bathroom together unsupervised and wanted to know what was occurring. Respondent explained to her and Powers went into the bathroom with Jovon so he could show her how a sparker worked. She became upset and took the sparker away from Jovon. Although Powers never touched the sparker and does not know if it emits sparks which are hot, she became concerned that the children could burn themselves or catch their clothes on fire. She wrote Respondent a memorandum concerning classroom safety, chastising Respondent severely. Respondent did not place her students in a harmful situation by allowing the demonstration of the sparking device in the darkened bathroom inside the classroom. Further, Respondent did not act inappropriately or unprofessionally in allowing the unplanned science lesson to occur in spite of Powers' contention that such a demonstration is not part of the Dade County curriculum. It is unclear what the policy was at Poinciana Park Elementary School regarding teachers touching students subsequent to the time that Respondent was reprimanded for intervening in the fight between students. The principal of Poinciana Park testified that a teacher is permitted to touch a child but a teacher is only permitted to use reasonable force when a child is in danger. On the other hand, the assistant principal testified that there is a "hands off" policy which prohibits teachers from touching students under any circumstances. Powers admitted at the final hearing that she had specifically instructed Respondent to not touch any student. During the 1988-89 and 1989-90 school years, it was Respondent's understanding that she was not to touch students under any circumstances since she had been so specifically instructed by the assistant principal and since she had been reprimanded for intervening in a fight. Further, she was instructed during January of 1990 by her team leader that teachers were not permitted to intervene in fights, and Respondent witnessed another teacher being verbally reprimanded for intervening in a fight. On January 31, 1990, Antwon Dixon, one of Respondent's students, brought a musical calculator with him to school. He kept turning on the calculator, which then automatically played music, thereby disturbing the class. Respondent instructed Antwon to give her the calculator several different times. Each time he refused. Other students began telling him to give the calculator to Respondent, and he continued to refuse. One of the other boys called out "let's jump him." Five or six of the boys in Respondent's class jumped on Antwon, and the boys began fighting with each other. Respondent did nothing to instigate the fight. Respondent went around the desks, which had been arranged in a semi- circle with Respondent in the center, to where the boys were wrestling and fighting on the floor. She picked up the calculator which had fallen on the floor and put it inside her cabinet. She stood next to where the boys were fighting and told them to stop and to take their seats. The children stopped fighting and sat down, except for Antwon. During the fight one of the boys had taken one of Antwon's shoes and had thrown it outside the classroom. Antwon ran out of Respondent's classroom, hitting several of the other boys on his way past them. He then ran semi-barefoot to his aunt's house located across the street from the school. No one was physically injured in the altercation. Although Respondent testified that the incident only lasted for fifteen seconds, it is most probable that it lasted a little longer than that. Respondent is five feet four inches tall. One of the boys involved in the fight is six feet one or two inches tall and weighs 229 pounds. Although the child had grown some between the time of the incident and the final hearing in this cause, on January 31, 1990, he was already a "very large person." Respondent stopped the altercation as quickly as she could using verbal directives only. Even if she had been physically capable of breaking up the fight among six or seven boys, at least one of whom was substantially larger than Respondent, by doing so she would have directly violated orders given to her by her assistant principal. Respondent's actions were reasonable under the circumstances.
Recommendation Based upon the foregoing Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, it is, RECOMMENDED that a Final Order be entered finding Respondent not guilty and dismissing the Administrative Complaint filed against her in this cause. DONE and ENTERED this 17th day of June, 1991, at Tallahassee, Florida. LINDA M. RIGOT Hearing Officer Division of Administrative Hearings The DeSoto Building 1230 Apalachee Parkway Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1550 (904) 488-9675 Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 17th day of June, 1991. APPENDIX TO RECOMMENDED ORDER DOAH CASE NO. 91-0288 Petitioner's proposed findings of fact numbered 1-3 have been adopted either verbatim or in substance in this Recommended Order. Petitioner's proposed findings of fact numbered 4-42 have been rejected as not constituting findings of fact but rather as constituting recitation of the testimony. Respondent's proposed findings of fact numbered 1, 2, 4, 6-8, 11, 13, 14, and 16-20 have been adopted either verbatim or in substance in this Recommended Order. Respondent's proposed findings of fact numbered 3, 5, 9, 10, 12, and 15 have been rejected as not constituting findings of fact but rather as constituting recitation of the testimony, conclusions of law, or argument of counsel. Copies furnished: Robert J. Boyd, Esquire 352 Florida Education Center 325 West Gaines Street Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0400 William DuFresne, Esquire DuFresne and Bradley 2929 Southwest Third Avenue Suite One Miami, Florida 33129 George A. Bowen, Acting Executive Director Department of Education 301 Florida Education Center 325 West Gaines Street Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0400 Jerry Moore, Administrator Professional Practices Services 352 Florida Education Center 325 West Gaines Street Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0400 Sydney H. McKenzie, General Counsel Department of Education The Capitol, PL-08 Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0400
The Issue The issue presented herein concerns the appeal filed by Respondent of the school board's assignment of Respondent to J.R.E. Lee Junior High School, an alternative school placement.
Findings Of Fact Based on the entire record compiled herein, including the testimony of Peter Hoffman, Assistant Principal at Centennial Junior High School, I hereby make the following relevant findings of fact. On approximately August 26, 1983, Respondent, Tracy Jean Hidalgo, was assigned to attend Centennial Junior High School. Upon arriving for enrollment at Centennial, within six days of her enrollment, four fires were set in the bathrooms at Centennial Junior High School. Respondent admitted setting the fires when questioned by Assistant Principal Hoffman. Once the fires were set at Centennial Junior High, the regular school program was suspended and the students evacuated the building until the fires were brought under control. As stated hereinabove, Respondent or a representative on her behalf did not appear at the hearing to offer any testimony respecting the charges which prompted Respondent's administrative assignment.
Recommendation Based on the foregoing findings of fact and conclusions of law, it is hereby recommended that the Respondent's appeal of the school board's assignment of her to the school system's opportunity school program at J. R. E. Lee Junior High School be DENIED. RECOMMENDED this 10th day of February, 1984, in Tallahassee, Florida. JAMES E. BRADWELL, 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 10th day of February, 1984.
The Issue Whether Respondent's teaching certificate should be suspended or revoked, or whether other appropriate action should be taken for alleged violations of Chapter 231, Florida Statutes, and Chapter 6B, Florida Administrative Code.
Findings Of Fact The Respondent, Jimmy L. Parker, holds Florida Teaching Certificate #165142, Graduate, Rank 3, valid through June 30, 1901, covering the area of music education. Respondent has been employed in the public schools of Polk County at Winter Haven High School as the band director. A petition for the revocation of teaching certificate was filed by the Chairman of the Petitioner Council on April 6, 1979. Homer K. Addair, the Superintendent of Schools, by letter dated May 21, 1979, advised Respondent Parker that he was "charged with falsifying an accident report and subsequently wrongfully collecting workmen's compensation funds, i.e. immorality," and that he was suspended from his employment effective May 23, 1979. Respondent has not been employed since that date by the School Board of Polk County, Florida. Respondent Parker filed a response through his attorney on May 1, 1979, and the pleadings were filed with the Division of Administrative Hearings with a request that a hearing officer be assigned. After the hearing was called to order, a stipulation as to some facts was filed by the parties: On or about May 8, 1975, while returning home during the evening hours from a band meeting at the school and driving a 1975 Ford van leased to the Board of Public Instruction of Polk County, Florida, Respondent Parker pulled to the side of the road at a location approximately one house from his home at the signal of James A. Partain, an employee of the Board of Public Instruction of Polk County, Florida as a coach of Winter Haven High School. Partain got into the van with Respondent, wherein a discussion ensued concerning an illicit relationship occurring between Respondent and Partain's wife, also an employee of the Board of Public Instruction of Polk County. A fight ensued in the van wherein Respondent suffered physical injuries. Respondent Parker drove himself home and told his sick wife that two black people had beaten him at the school. Respondent's wife called a neighbor, who came to Respondent's home and called the police. Respondent told the police that two black boys had beaten him. On the morning of May 9, 1975, Respondent Parker reported to his supervisor, Principal Herman Lofton, that be was attacked by two youths while on the school grounds on official school business and beaten badly. The beating incident was investigated by the local police and later by William J. Duncan, Deputy Superintendent of Schools. On June 3, 1975, Respondent Parker submitted a "claim of instructional personnel for illness in line of duty compensation" form to the principal, Herman Lofton. This claim stated that Respondent was beaten while on official school business with the band on the school grounds by two youths. Ultimately, the claim was approved, and Respondent received workmen's compensation payments of approximately $3,400.00 as a result of said claim. The morning after the incident of the beating and the call to the police station, the headlines of an article in the Winter Haven newspaper noted that two black youths had beaten the band director, the Respondent, the night before. From that time to date of hearing there have been news items about the episode in the paper and on the radio. William J. Duncan, Deputy Superintendent of Schools, talked to the police chief about the fighting incident. He received telephone calls from the black community informing him that some black people did not believe black youths were involved and wanted the investigation to continue. There was controversy within the black group, some believing Respondent Parker had not told the truth and some believing he had. Later, a dispute arose between two school employees as a result of the incident which created a disturbance in the lunchroom. The incident was reported to Duncan. Subsequently, the investigation was dropped by the police and the school authorities for the good of the school and the community. Sometime later, however, Homer Addair, Superintendent of Schools, requested Duncan to make an investigation to determine whether students had been involved in the incident, whether the altercation had actually taken place on the school grounds, and whether records had been falsified. Duncan said that the investigation had been dropped to keep the peace between the black and the white communities and to further the interests of the school band. He had heard the incident mentioned occasionally from the time it occurred by people in the community, band members and Band Boosters, and read short reports about it in the newspapers. Herman Lofton, Principal of Winter Haven High School, had been called by the police and questioned about the incident. Shortly thereafter, he received a written report from Respondent. He signed a county form for instructional personnel for illness and received an employee's accident and report claim. Lofton processed the claim in due course by sending the form to the county office. Subsequently, Lofton talked to the two employees, one black and one white, who had been creating a disturbance in the lunchroom, about the incident. Lofton has heard others mention the incident from time to time and occasionally read a short account regarding it in the newspaper. Homer Addair, Superintendent of Schools, learned of the incident from the news media, from members of his staff, and from the community. He instructed Duncan, his deputy superintendent, to investigate. It was Addair's opinion that the Respondent is a good band director and is supported by the band students and Band Boosters, but that because of the altercation and falsification of records his effectiveness as a teacher in the school system as a whole has diminished. It is Addair's opinion that the conduct of Respondent Parker sets a bad example for the students. His opinion is based upon the conduct that led to the altercation and to Respondent's falsification of the workmen's compensation claim. James R. Partain, Coach at Winter Haven High School, substantiated the facts relating to the fighting incident but stated he did not want Respondent Parker to lose his job and was sorry for his involvement in the fight. He said the fight began after he threatened to tell Respondent's wife about the affair, and that Respondent threatened him if he did tell her. Partain did not realize he had beaten Respondent to such an extent and later apologized to him. James Ernest Reese, Assistant Band Director, stated that Respondent Parker is a hard-working and effective band director, and that it is his opinion that the altercation between the Respondent and Partain did not cause Respondent to lose his effectiveness as a teacher. When asked the question whether he felt "the receipt of money from the false claim as an act of morality for an educator, is that act a moral act or an immoral act?", he reluctantly stated, "I suppose it could be classified as an immoral act." Roy V. Wood, a retired supervisor of music in Polk County schools and an investigator for the Petitioner Council, testified that the people of Polk County knew of the altercation and of the allegations of falsified reports, and that they still wanted Respondent as a band director. Reverend D. Dewey Wise, Pastor of the First Church of the Nazarene, knew of the altercation and testified he could see no difference in the effectiveness of the Respondent as a teacher now as compared to before the subject problems. He testified that the majority of the people in the community support the Respondent. He also stated that falsification is not a good example and "anytime we commit wrong, it would be an immoral act." Respondent Parker stated that he lied to his wife and to the police about the beating incident, stating that two black youths had beaten him, because he did not want his wife to know that he had had an illicit affair with the wife of another teacher in the school system. Respondent stated that he also did not want to embarrass the school, and that he was afraid of his paramour's husband, Partain. There was no explanation from Respondent as to why he falsely stated the incident took place on the school grounds while he was on official school business, whereas in fact the incident took place only a short distance from his home and inside the school van. Respondent Parker filled out several forms after the first form for the workmen's compensation claim, and each time he made false statements as to whom he had been beaten by and where the incident had taken place. Respondent Parker has the reputation of being an excellent band director and has brought honor to the school through his talent in directing the school band. His employment evaluations have been good. The band students and the parents and friends who comprise the Band Boosters admire his ability. The band students and many people in the community would not like to lose his services in the music department. Both parties submitted proposed findings of fact, memoranda of law, and proposed recommended orders. These instruments were considered in the writing of this Order. To the extent the proposed findings of fact have not been adopted in, or are inconsistent with, factual findings in this Order they have been specifically rejected as being irrelevant or not having been supported by the evidence.
Recommendation Based upon the foregoing Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, the Hearing Officer recommends that the teaching certificate of the Respondent, Jimmy L. Parker, be revoked for a period of three (3) years. DONE and ORDERED this 8th day of October, 1979, in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida. DELPHENE C. STRICKLAND Hearing Officer Division of Administrative Hearings Room 530, Carlton Building Tallahassee, Florida 32304 (904) 488-9675 COPIES FURNISHED: Robert J. Vossler, Esquire 110 North Magnolia Drive, Suite 224 Tallahassee, Florida 32301 Lee S. Damsker, Esquire 2919 First Florida Tower Tampa, Florida 33602 ================================================================= AGENCY FINAL ORDER ================================================================= BEFORE THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF FLORIDA IN RE: JIMMY L. PARKER DOAH CASE NO. 79-1026 /
The Issue The issue posed for decision herein is whether or not the Respondent, Harry Hoffman, based on conduct which will be set forth hereinafter in detail, is guilty of immorality within the meaning of Florida Statutes Section 231.36(6).
Findings Of Fact Based upon my observation of the witnesses and their demeanor while testifying, the arguments of counsel, and the entire record compiled herein, the following relevant facts are found. During times material to the allegations as set forth in the Notice of Charges filed herein on March 16, 1979, the Respondent, Harry W. Hoffman, was employed by the School Board of Dade County as a Band Director for Carol City Senior High School. By letter dated February 9, 1979, the School Board of Dade County, Florida (Petitioner), advised the Respondent that he was being dismissed from his position of employment of immorality. The alleged facts which form the basis for the charges are that the Respondent, on December 15, 1978, while a teacher at Carol City Senior High School, committed an act of immorality upon a student, Tosha Binns, to-wit, allowing Tosha Binns to sit upon his (Respondent's) desk with her slacks and panties down with her vaginal area exposed. It is alleged that Respondent, while Miss Binns was exposed from her waist down, had his trousers unzipped with his hand in his trousers. To substantiate this allegation, it is alleged that this act of immorality was observed by another student, one Michael Holmes, and that when Respondent noticed that student Holmes witnessed this act, summoned student Holmes outside the classroom and gave him five dollars with instructions to "keep this incident between the two." 1/ The alleged act of immorality took place on December 15, 1978, the last day of school before the Christmas break. Michael D. Holmes, a sixteen (16) year old student enrolled at Carol City Senior High School, was a drum major during the 1978-79 school year. According to student Holmes, members of the band gave a party which began around noon on December 15, 1978. Holmes testified that Respondent was aware of the party which started around noon and lasted until shortly after 2:00 p.m. Holmes' testimony is that after the party was over, Respondent asked him to lock the band room and to be certain that all the doors in the immediate vicinity were secured. Holmes noted that the Respondent's front office door, which is situated in the back of the band room, was open. Holmes walked into the room not knowing what he would see. When Holmes entered the room, he noted Tosha Binns' pants and underwear down while the Respondent had his hand in his pants. He testified that they were all stunned and that Respondent asked him to stand outside the office and wait. Respondent later came outside and gave him five dollars to keep the matter to himself. Holmes kept the matter to himself until after the Christmas vacation because of his respect for Mr. Hoffman. Holmes was asked by a Philip Farley (phonetic) if it was true that Respondent had sexual acts with Tosha. Holmes replied, "Yes," whereupon Farley allegedly responded that, "Yes, it was true." Shortly thereafter, the rumor spread around campus. Thereafter during late January, certain band members' parents became involved and the matter was ultimately brought to the attention of the Principal, Anthony Pariso. The matter was reported to school security and an investigation ensued. A recommendation was made to the School Board that the Respondent be dismissed, which recommendation become effective on February 9, 1979. Holmes testified that he was reprimanded by the Respondent because of a behavioral problem which occurred during the blackout in January of 1979. The net result of the reprimand was that the Respondent admonished Holmes that he was amazed at his conduct during the blackout and that inasmuch as he was a drum major, he was not setting a proper example for other band members. When it appeared to Respondent that Holmes was not responding to his oral reprimand, he was stripped of his drum major duties. Geniene "Tosha" Binns, a sixteen (16) year old student at Carol City Senior High School was a student of Respondent's while she was a majorette and tuba player in the band. Miss Binns recalled being at school on the date in question, i.e., December 15, 1978, and recalled that the band "threw a party." Miss Binns testified that she left earlier with a student, Cynthia Octine (phonetic), at approximately two o'clock. Miss Binns testified that she got home early enough to watch the stories, particularly "One Life to Live" which starts at 2:00 p.m. She testified that she saw the entire story. Miss Binns denied that any improper conduct occurred between Respondent and herself or that she was at school any time after approximately 1:50 p.m. on December 15th. Betty Fabregas approached the Respondent one evening during late January, 1979, while she was serving as a volunteer worker at Carol City Senior High School. Ms. Fabregas has two daughters who were students of Respondent's and were band members during the 1978-79 school year. Ms. Fabregas was approached by a Mr. Phelps, a security officer, who inquired of her "about Respondent paying off two guys to keep the Binns immorality incident quiet." Ms. Fabregas, being stunned and also having respect for the Respondent, pondered the manner in which she should bring the incident to Respondent's attention to determine whether there was substance to the allegations. Ms. Fabregas testified that she had chaperoned with Respondent on band trips and that she never observed any questionable conduct by Respondent during his relationships with students and other band members. Respondent first gained knowledge that a rumor was being circulated around the school campus about him and student Binns on January 31, 1979, although Trudy Sobel had spoken to Respondent about the incident the preceding day, January 30th. With this knowledge, Respondent attempted to talk to the Principal, Anthony Pariso; however, the Principal refused, stating that the matter was turned over to administrative officials downtown and that the matter was out of his hands. Respondent's recollection of the manner in which he spent his time on December 15, 1978, is as follows. At approximately 10:30 a.m., Respondent approached his assistant, Ben Carrioccio, and inquired if he could cover his classes for him for the remainder of the day. Mr. Carrioccio agreed and the Respondent signed out to leave the campus at 11:00 a.m., to go to Garmon Motors to pick up an exhaust and tailpipe for his Jeep vehicle. Respondent indeed left the campus and went to Garmon Motors. He later stopped by to see "Allen," the owner of the King Midas Flea Market in Fort Lauderdale to pick up a bracelet which he had acid-tested for gold content. Respondent had purchased the bracelet from Peggy Yankowitz the preceding day for a Christmas gift for his wife. Respondent decided against keeping the gold bracelet and instead purchased a ring for his wife from King Midas Flea Market. He returned to the school to pick up some music arrangements at approximately 1:30 p.m. so that he could work on them during the Christmas break. Upon arrival at the campus at approximately 1:30 p.m., Respondent had a conversation with John Brian, a security officer, who advised him that he had experienced some problems with students who attempted to bring beer in the band hall. Respondent, having no knowledge that the students had planned a band party, became angry and immediately went to the band hall to evict the students that officer Brian told him that he had experienced problems with. Faced with those problems, Respondent made an announcement that at two o'clock the band room would be cleaned and that the party would be over. At approximately 2:15 p.m., the party was over and Respondent and Ben Carrioccio checked the area completely to see that the area was secure. Respondent advised Carrioccio that he had two phone calls to make and that inasmuch as they had secured the area, he could leave and he would see him after the Christmas holidays. Respondent stayed at the school and made phone calls to his wife and Peggy Yankowitz to return the bracelet that he had purchased. Respondent left school shortly after 3:00 p.m. and visited several friends and relatives, leaving Christmas gifts, attending pre-Christmas parties and, in general, taking care of pre-Christmas matters. Although Respondent and his wife were scheduled to leave for their vacation to the North Carolina mountains at approximately 12:00 Noon on Friday, December 15, 1978, they did not leave until the next morning since they retired for the evening at approximately 2:30 a.m. on Saturday morning. Respondent did not recall seeing Tosha Binns on the day of December 15, 1978. Respondent was suspended on February 9, 1979, based on the subject incident. During mid-February, 1979, Respondent had photos taken of the band area in order that he could reconstruct the events on December 15, 1978. Additionally, Respondent denied any improper conduct between Miss Binns and himself, and denied attempting to bribe Michael Holmes. Respondent also denied that he authorized Holmes to lock up the band area on the day in question. Peggy Yankowitz appeared and testified that the Respondent returned the bracelet which he had purchased the preceding day at approximately 3:00 p.m. on December 15, 1978. Ms. Yankowitz testified that the Respondent stayed at her residence until dark on the afternoon of December 15, 1978. Ben J. Carrioccio, a music teacher and Respondent's then assistant at Carol City Senior High School, appeared and testified that Respondent had no part in setting up a Christmas party for band students. Mr. Carrioccio testified that he and Respondent secured the band room at approximately 2:15 p.m., at which time he left the area. He testified that all the students had left when he left. Additionally, he added that the Respondent had a reputation for being, and is in fact, a strong disciplinarian. Patricia Allessio appeared and testified that she was an instructor at Carol City Senior High School for approximately sixteen years preceding the 1977-78 school year. She testified that she assisted Respondent in chaperoning band trips inasmuch as she was the Director of student activities. Ms. Allessio voiced her opinion that the Respondent was "too strict a disciplinarian." Carl L. Hanna, former Assistant Principal at Carol City Senior High School from 1975 through the 1978-79 school year, expressed his familiarity with the Respondent and offered that he had never observed the Respondent doing anything questionable during his tenure at Carol City and that Respondent often disciplined problem students. Nicholas Borota, a former Principal at Carol City Senior High School for the previous tan years, testified that the band instructors are always hired to continue their employment throughout the summer months inasmuch as continuity is essential to maintain a good music program in a high school. Principal Borota testified that the Respondent had no prior questionable involvements with students and that he (Respondent) always kept the band area and equipment under double lock and key.
Conclusions Based on the denials of student Tosha Binns, the Respondent and the corroborative testimony of Ben Carrioccio, Peggy Yankowitz and others indicating or otherwise supporting the conclusion that Respondent did not engage in any improper conduct with Tosha Binns as alleged, the ultimate conclusion is inevitable that insufficient evidence was offered to establish the allegations that the Respondent had engaged in acts of immorality in violation of Florida statutes section 231.26(6). Accordingly, I shall recommend that the Administrative Complaint filed herein be dismissed in its entirety. 2/
Recommendation Based on the foregoing Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, it is RECOMMENDED that the Notice of charges filed herein be dismissed and that the Respondent be reinstated to his former or substantially equivalent position with back pay suffered as a result of his dismissal. The back pay award should be reduced by Respondent's interim earnings during the period in question. Additionally, it is recommended that the Respondent's personnel file by expunged of all materials respecting this subject incident. RECOMMENDED this 20th day of November, 1979, in Tallahassee, Florida. JAMES E. BRADWELL, Hearing Officer Division of Administrative Hearings Room 101, Collins Building Tallahassee, Florida 32301 (904) 488-9675 Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 20th day of November, 1979.
The Issue Whether Respondent committed the violations alleged in the Administrative Complaint? If so, what disciplinary action should be taken against him?
Findings Of Fact Based upon the evidence adduced at hearing, the stipulations of the parties, and the record as a whole, the following Findings of Fact are made: Teaching Certification and Experience Respondent holds Florida teaching certificate 177890, which covers the area of music and is valid through June 30, 1995. He has been a teacher for the past 27 years. Respondent has spent his entire teaching career teaching music in the Dade County public school system. For fourteen of these years, including the 1990-91 school year and a portion of the 1991-92 school year, he was a music teacher at Sunset High. In terms of student population, Sunset High is one of the largest high schools in the state. During the 1990-91 school year there were approximately 3200 to 3300 students enrolled at the school. As a result of its large student enrollment, classrooms and hallways were crowded and teaching conditions were less than optimum. At all times material to the instant case, Respondent was the teacher responsible for Sunset High's choral program, which enjoyed an excellent reputation due in large measure to Respondent's efforts and dedication. He often stayed at school until late in the afternoon working with his students. Respondent taught beginning, intermediate and advanced chorus at Sunset High. The advanced chorus classes had fewer students than did the other chorus classes. One of the advanced chorus classes Respondent taught was comprised exclusively of female students, approximately 20 in number. It was referred to as "Nightingales." The other advanced chorus class had both male and female students. It was known as "Camelot." The students in "Nightingales" and "Camelot" not only sang in class, they also performed for others, particularly during the holiday season. Rehearsals for these performances were held after the regular school day. Verbal Attacks Respondent was very demanding of his students. He reprimanded them, often loudly and in an angry tone of voice, when they did not follow his instructions or when their singing in class or during rehearsals failed to meet his expectations. These reprimands became more frequent as a performance date grew nearer. Occasionally, Respondent's reprimands included foul language, such as the words "asshole," "bitch" and "shit." There were also times that Respondent called a student with whom he was displeased "stupid" or an "idiot." Respondent's outbursts reduced some of his students to tears because they did not want to be a disappointment to Respondent. The students in Respondent's classes were not the only ones subjected to his tirades. Respondent also lambasted other students at the school and, on isolated occasions, even staff members. For example, during the 1990-91 school year Respondent occasionally yelled at guitar students who were practicing in the hallway in the only space that was available to them for that purpose and threatened to throw them against the wall if they did not leave the area. During that same school year, he was also rude to Marilyn Smith, another music teacher at the school, in the presence of students. Respondent also yelled at Judy Cospito, the school treasurer, for a considerable amount of time in front of approximately 200 people waiting in the lobby of the school auditorium to purchase tickets to a student choral performance. Cospito had volunteered to sell tickets to the performance and Respondent was upset that she had not arrived at the auditorium earlier. Cospito never again offered to do any volunteer work for Respondent. Touching of Students Respondent was not always ill-tempered. On many occasions he acted as a deeply caring teacher with great affection for his students. Respondent openly displayed his affection for his students, particularly his female students towards whom he was more affectionate than their male counterparts. He hugged female students, on some occasions approaching them from the side and on other occasions approaching them from the front. On one occasion, one of Respondent's female students, E.H., was seated at the piano, when Respondent approached her from behind, put his arms around her and touched her breasts. E.H. was startled by Respondent's actions and she jumped up from her seat. Respondent then walked away. This was not the only time that Respondent touched the breast of a female student in his class. After class one day at the beginning of the 1991- 92 school year, J.J., a member of "Nightingales," tried on for Respondent at his request a used performance costume that one of the returning members of the class had offered to sell to her. Upon seeing J.J. in the costume, Respondent thought that it might be too tight around J.J.'s chest. He therefore, pointing at her chest, asked her if it fit there. The finger with which Respondent pointed made contact with one of J.J.'s breasts. Immediately after touching her, Respondent moved his finger away. Respondent kissed female students on the cheek. J.S. was among the female students that Respondent kissed in this manner. Respondent put his hand on the knee of female students, including E.H., T.G. and A.B., when they were sitting next to him. He did this to E.H. with some regularity. On one such occasion, when E.H. and Respondent were alone in Respondent's office, Respondent moved his hand a little above her knee. Respondent shook the hands of female students and, as he did so, rubbed one his fingers against the palms of their hands. J.J. was one of the students to whom Respondent did this. Respondent also held the hands of his female students. One such instance of hand-holding occurred during a school trip to Tampa, Florida, where five of Respondent's students, including T.G., performed in a statewide competition. As T.G. entered the auditorium where the competition was being held, Respondent grabbed her hand and led her to her seat. He continued to hold her hand after they were seated, making her feel uncomfortable. He eventually let go of her hand. Respondent gave his female students shoulder rubs and back massages. He also scratched their backs. T.G. was one of the students whose back Respondent scratched. On one occasion, Respondent playfully stroked the hair of V.N., a member of "Nightingales." On another occasion, he patted M.F., a female student of his, on the buttocks with his hand. M.F. was angered by the incident. Some of Respondent's students, such as E.H., J.J., J.S., and T.G., felt uncomfortable when he touched them, but said nothing about their discomfort to Respondent. Neither did they bring the matter to the attention of the school administration. They thought that if they did tell, the school's choral program would suffer, which was something that they did not want to happen. V.N. and M.F. were two students who let Respondent, at least, know that they did not like it when he touched them. After being made aware of their feelings on the matter, Respondent stopped touching them. There were some students, such as A.B., 2/ who did not find Respondent touching them objectionable. Stares and Suggestive Remarks Respondent appeared at times to stare at T.G., making her feel uncomfortable. He also made comments in class regarding the physical appearance and clothing of his female students. For instance, during deep breathing exercises he commented to the larger breasted girls in the class that he liked the way they were sitting in their chairs. To girls who were wearing outfits that were more revealing than usual he would remark that they looked sexy and that they should wear these outfits more often. Among the girls to whom such remarks were directed were J.J. and J.S., both of whom suffered embarrassment as a result. The remarks embarrassed J.S. to such an extent that when she came home from school she cried. On one occasion, Respondent jokingly told the class that he was going out on a date with J.J. Although Respondent was simply trying to be funny (there was no "date" planned), J.J. was not amused. To the contrary, she was embarrassed by the remark. Handling of Booster Club Monies The Sunset Choral Parents Association (hereinafter referred to as the "Association") is a booster club that supports the choral program at Sunset High. It is an independent entity that operates outside the control of the Dade County School Board. Dade County School Board policy prohibits School Board employees from participating in the fund-raising activities of booster clubs such as the Association. The Association sold jackets and shirts to raise money. Normally, one of the parent members of the Association would come to school to collect money from any student or staff member who wished to purchase a jacket or shirt. On one occasion, a security guard at the school wanted to purchase a jacket from the Association, but there was no Association member available to take her money and give her a receipt. She therefore handed the money to Respondent, who provided her with a receipt. Respondent turned the money over to the Association that afternoon. School Board Disciplinary Action and Respondent's Subsequent Conduct On or about February 4, 1992, Respondent was temporarily transferred from Sunset High and reassigned to administrative duty pending the completion of the Dade County School Board's Special Investigative Unit's investigation of allegations of misconduct made against him. The investigation substantiated that Respondent had engaged in conduct that was unbecoming a School Board employee. Following the completion of the investigation, Respondent returned to Sunset High. On June 11, 1992, he was given the following written reprimand by the principal of Sunset High, Dennis Davis: On January 31, 1992, it was reported that you had displayed inappropriate behavior by yelling at students, using profanity to students and touching female students in an improper manner while teaching chorus in room 122. You violated the United Teachers of Dade Contract Article VII, Section I, as well as School and Dade County School Board Rule 6GX13-4A-1.21 Employee Conduct, and Chapter 6B-1.01(3) Code of Ethics of the Education Profession in Florida. You are accountable for your actions in your capacity as a certificated professional educator and should act in a manner which is consistent with the documents listed above. You are directed to refrain from using inappropriate behavior in the performance of your assigned duties. Any recurrences of the above infractions will result in further disciplinary action. On June 11, 1992, Respondent also received the following written administrative directives from Principal Davis: As stated to you during the re-entry conference on Tuesday, April 21, 1992, written administrative directives would be forthcoming. By this memorandum, I am direct- ing you to refrain from yelling. Additionally, there is to be no use of profanity in class. You are further directed to curtail all touching of female students and remarks that can be construed as sexual or improper. The names and statements of the students who were involved in this investigation have been made known to you. You are directed to avoid any remark or action to any of these students that can be construed as punitive or retaliatory. Your signature below signifies receipt of this memorandum and your intent to comply with these directives. Respondent has complied with these administrative directives since his return to the classroom. 3/
Recommendation Based upon the foregoing Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, it is hereby RECOMMENDED that the Commission enter a final order finding Respondent guilty of the violations alleged in Counts I through VI of the Administrative Complaint and disciplining him for having committed these violation by imposing the punishment proposed in Petitioner's recommended order which is set forth above. DONE AND ENTERED in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida, this 5th day of August, 1993. STUART M. LERNER Hearing Officer Division of Administrative Hearings The DeSoto Building 1230 Apalachee Parkway Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1550 (904) 488-9675 Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 5th day of August, 1993.
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 the Manatee County School Board (Petitioner) has just cause to terminate the employment of Charles Willis (Respondent).
Findings Of Fact At all times material to this case, the Respondent was a drama teacher employed by the Petitioner to work at BRHS pursuant to a professional services contract. During 2010, the Respondent had an account on Facebook, a social networking internet website. Facebook allows an individual user to create and maintain a personal "page" including text and photographs, which can be viewed by other users. Users can also provide links to content posted elsewhere on the internet, and viewers can access the linked information. Facebook allows users to establish privacy settings that restrict access to various types of content. Such privacy options include the identification of other Facebook users as "friends." Privacy settings can be established that prevent users from posting comments to content posted by a user, or from viewing comments posted by other users. Social networking websites are used by some teachers to communicate classroom assignments or other educational information to students. Social networking websites are widely used by students and, at least based on the testimony presented at the hearing, by parents and other adults as well. Prior to the allegations underlying this dispute, the Respondent's privacy settings permitted his Facebook "friends" to view all content posted by the Respondent. The Respondent had in excess of 100 BRHS students identified as friends on his Facebook account. At all times material to this case, the Petitioner had no policy, written or otherwise, that restricted an employee from having an account on a social networking website, or regulated the use of any social networking website by an employee. At various times during 2010, the Respondent posted remarks on his Facebook page that included certain acronyms. Such acronyms, and their commonly understood meaning, included the following: WTF (What the Fuck) OMFG (Oh My Fucking God) F'n (Fucking) LMAO (Laughing My Ass Off) ROTFLMFAO (Rolling On The Floor Laughing My Fucking Ass Off) At the hearing, the Respondent asserted that he intended the "F" in the above acronyms to be understood as "fricking." There was no credible evidence that any student or parent who read the Respondent's Facebook remarks understood the "F" to mean anything other than "fucking." On his Facebook page dated July 31, 2010, the Respondent posted a remark that stated "[I]t's not who you know, it's who you blow," in an apparently derogatory reference to the judging of a student competition. On his Facebook page dated March 30, 2010, the Respondent posted a photograph of a bumper sticker that read "[F]uck the man, become the man" that was taken by a student on a trip to New York. The Respondent explained his posting of the photo by claiming that the people on the trip had agreed that all photos taken on the trip would be posted without censorship and that he had posted several hundred trip photos onto Facebook. On his Facebook page dated August 7, 2010, the Respondent posted a photograph (titled "Accidental Porn") that he obtained from another Facebook user's page. The photograph displayed a television weatherman standing in front of a map showing an elongated weather system. Based on the location of the weatherman and the weather system, the image was perceived by some viewers as depicting the broadcaster holding his penis in a sexually-suggestive position. Comments on the Respondent's Facebook page made it apparent that his viewers were aware of the perception. On his Facebook page dated August 20, 2010, the Respondent posted a link to content titled "[I]t's a great day to whoop somebody's ass." On his Facebook page dated June 26, 2010, the Respondent, apparently intoxicated, posted remarks indicating that he'd consumed excessive alcohol one evening and then posted remarks on the next day indicating that he had a headache related to the consumption. Although the Respondent asserted that some of the posts referenced herein occurred during summer months when he was not "on contract" as a teacher, his students, past and future, were able to freely access the Respondent's Facebook pages during the summer. The Respondent also had an account on Formspring, another social networking internet website. Formspring presents user content in a "questions and answer" format. In an undated post to the Respondent's Formspring page, a student commented "[T]hanks for letting me skip your class today." The Respondent wrote in response, "[Y]ou're welcome, but now you owe me....LOL....just do an amazing job at the encore show." The Respondent acknowledged that he allowed the student to miss his class in order to attend a rehearsal. While the Respondent may have failed to comply with school attendance policy by permitting the student to miss class, the Petitioner's assertion that the posting created the impression of an inappropriate arrangement between a teacher and a student was not supported by credible evidence. In another undated post to the Respondent's Formspring page, an unidentified Formspring user asked "what happened with the whole UP dvd thing," apparently in reference to an incident wherein the Respondent played a movie in class. The Respondent replied, "I got areprimand [sic] for showing an unauthorized video and not following the counties [sic] video policy." The Petitioner's assertion that the Respondent's response was an inappropriate discussion of an employer/employee disciplinary matter with a student was not supported by credible evidence. The reprimand was public record. The identity of the person posting the question was unknown. Upon the initiation of this disciplinary action, the Respondent altered his privacy settings on the social networking sites to limit access of personal content to adults. There was no evidence that social networking internet websites cannot be used for appropriate educational purposes. On more than a few occasions, the Respondent was known in the classroom to use "spoonerisms" in speech, wherein letters in various words were deliberately switched to alter a verbalization of a phrase. While in class and in the presence of students, the Respondent used phrases such as "nucking futs" or "doggammit." The school received a complaint about the practice. On one occasion in the classroom, the Respondent referred to his former wife as a "bitch." On at least one occasion, the Respondent used a hand gesture in the presence of students to signify the word "bullshit." On April 30, 2010, the BRHS principal directed the Respondent to refrain from making such statements and gestures. There was no credible evidence that the Respondent continued to engage in such verbal or physical communication after the April 30, 2010, directive. At the start of the 2009-2010 school year, the Respondent approached the BRHS principal to inquire about organizing a theatre trip to New York for some of his drama students. The principal declined to authorize the travel as a school-sponsored event. The Respondent thereafter organized the trip on a private basis. Eight students expressed interest in going on the trip, and the trip ultimately occurred with a number of parents traveling as chaperones. At times, the Respondent discussed the proposed trip in his classes. The announcement of an organizational meeting occurred during class. The meeting was conducted on the school grounds at a time and place where play rehearsals were occurring, which had been previously arranged by the Respondent. There was no evidence that the Respondent mislead any participant to incorrectly presume that the trip was sponsored by the school. The participants in the trip were aware that the travel was not a school-sponsored event. There was no credible evidence that any participant or parent believed that the trip was a school-sanctioned event. The Respondent failed to comply with the school procedure for private use of the facility, which requires application and approval by school administration. Although execution of a facility lease may be required for larger groups, there was no evidence that such a lease would have been required for this meeting. There was no evidence that there was any adverse consequence to the Respondent's failure to seek permission to hold the organizational meeting in the previously-approved play rehearsal space. The time and location of the organizational meeting was not unreasonable, given the nature of the trip and the expected participants. Teachers who need to leave BRHS grounds during the workday are directed to obtain permission from a school administrator and then document the early departure in a log book maintained in the school office. The school administrators are the principal and the assistant principals, who are identified as such during formal meetings at the beginning of the school year. On September 2, 2010, the Respondent needed to go home on his lunch break and switch cars with his wife. The Respondent testified that he could not locate an administrator and that he thereafter went to the office of Bob McCabe, the BHRS "administrative parent liaison" and advised Mr. McCabe that the Respondent was leaving campus early. Mr. McCabe is not a school administrator and has no authority to approve a request to leave school grounds. Mr. McCabe works with parents and on student disciplinary matters. Mr. McCabe told the Respondent that he would tell the administrators, and the Respondent left the school. Mr. McCabe testified that shortly after the Respondent left, an assistant principal inquired as to whether the Respondent had left the grounds. Mr. McCabe also testified that the assistant principal had told him that she was present in her office at the time the Respondent claimed to be unable to find her, but the hearsay testimony was not otherwise corroborated. The evidence establishes that, had the Respondent requested to leave campus, the request would have most likely been granted, as such authorization, absent use of leave, was routinely granted by school administrators. There was no credible evidence that other teachers who have left school grounds without prior administrative approval have been subjected to discipline for the infraction. The Petitioner presented the expert testimony of Terry Osborn, dean of the University of South Florida College of Education, Sarasota-Manatee campus, who opined that some of the Respondent's social networking interactions could have had negative effects on the learning environment, could cause anxiety for some students, and potentially result in a loss of credibility by the educator. Mr. Osborne essentially based his opinion on very limited literature. There was no credible evidence that any of the adverse impacts identified by the witness has occurred.
Recommendation Based on the foregoing Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, it is RECOMMENDED that the Manatee County School Board enter a final order, dismissing the Administrative Complaint filed against Charles E. Willis. DONE AND ENTERED this 31st day of March, 2011, in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida. S WILLIAM F. QUATTLEBAUM 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 March, 2011. COPIES FURNISHED: Scott A. Martin, Esquire Manatee County School Board 215 Manatee Avenue West, Second Floor Bradenton, Florida 34205 Melissa C. Mihok, Esquire Kelly & McKee, P.A. 1718 East Seventh Avenue, Suite 301 Post Office Box 75638 Tampa, Florida 33675-0638 Lois Tepper, Acting General Counsel Department of Education Turlington Building, Suite 1244 325 West Gaines Street Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0400 Dr. Eric J. Smith, Commissioner of Education Department of Education Turlington Building, Suite 1514 325 West Gaines Street Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0400 Tim McGonegal, Superintendent Manatee County School Board 215 Manatee Avenue, West Bradenton, Florida 34206-9069
The Issue The issue is whether Respondent should be dismissed from his employment as a school teacher for just cause pursuant to Section 231.36(1)(a), Florida Statutes.
Findings Of Fact Background Petitioner is the duly appointed Superintendent for HCSB. He is responsible for the administration and management of the Hernando County School District. HCSB is the governing body of the Hernando County School District. It is charged with the responsibility to operate, control, and supervise all free public schools in Hernando County, Florida. At all times material here, Respondent was, and continues to be, an employee of the HCSB as a member of the instructional staff pursuant to a "professional service contract." The origin of these proceedings occurred on December 5, 1996, when Respondent was arrested for allegedly engaging in inappropriate sexual conduct with minor students. Apart from the allegations raised in this case, Respondent has been a satisfactory employee. No employee, agent, or representative of the HCSB was aware of any allegations of inappropriate sexual conduct between Respondent and any student until law enforcement officials notified school officials about an investigation a few days before Respondent's arrest. Respondent began working for HCSB in 1989 at Powell Middle School as a science teacher. He eventually became the technology resource coordinator at Powell Middle School. Respondent served as director of an after school program (ASP) at Powell Middle School beginning in January 1995. HCSB and the local YMCA sponsored and funded the ASP until sometime in the spring of 1996. Respondent was in large part responsible for the successful creation, organization, and operation of the ASP. The ASP began immediately after each school day and continued until 5:00 p.m. The program was staffed by Powell Middle School staff and other adults who taught different classes. Some of the after school activities, like swimming lessons, took place on the premises of the YMCA. The ASP participants rode a school bus from the school to activities in remote locations. Respondent directed the ASP initially from his classroom in the science building of Powell Middle School and subsequently from a room used as a computer lab, which was adjacent to his former classroom. A number of school administrators and teachers were constantly walking in and out of the areas where Respondent worked each day because supplies for the ASP were stored there. After school, teachers frequently visited Respondent's work station unannounced. Janitors and work details were on the school premises until 11:00 p.m. Bathrooms and a refrigerator for staff were located near Respondent's work station. Respondent's classroom in the science building had large windows along the outside wall. There were windows between the computer room and Respondent's classroom. There were windows between the computer room and another classroom in the same building. The only area which had any possibility of privacy was a walk-in storage closet in the computer room. The doors to the science classrooms, the computer room and closet were never locked. During the summers, Respondent spent his time working at Camp Sangamon, a camp in Vermont for boys of all ages. He began working at the camp in 1980 as a regular counselor. Later he served as head of the activity trip program. Respondent worked as the camp's assistant director for about eight years. In the summer of 1995, Respondent lived in a cabin with older boys who were counselors-in-training (CITs). However, he spent almost all of his time in the administrative office taking care of paperwork, planning activities, and supervising programs. He never went to the cabin in the middle of the day unless he was specifically looking for a CIT. Respondent's cabin was on a main trail through the camp, in close proximity to other cabins and a basketball court. People were constantly walking by the cabin, especially in the middle of the day during a free activity period. The cabin did not have a lock on its door. It had large windows with no screens, which were usually propped open with a stick. The panels that formed the walls of the cabin were separated by approximately one inch. The spaces between the panels left the interior of the cabin visible during the day. As assistant director, Respondent could arrange for Florida boys to attend the camp at a reduced rate. Over the years, he made these arrangements for several boys. C.B. Respondent met C.B., a seventh grade student at Powell Middle School, in 1995. At that time, C.B. was not one of Respondent's regular students. He was a participant in the ASP. Initially, C.B.'s stepmother called Respondent to check on C.B.'s attendance in the ASP. The stepmother and Respondent discussed C.B.'s problems, including his attempts to run away from home. During subsequent conversations, Respondent offered C.B. a scholarship to attend Camp Sangamon for three weeks in the summer of 1995. C.B.'s family was pleased that he would have an opportunity to go to camp. They accepted Respondent's offer and made final arrangements for C.B. to attend camp for three weeks at a reduced rate. When C.B. arrived at camp in 1995, he announced that he was going to stay at camp all summer. Despite his initial positive attitude, C.B. had trouble adjusting to camp life. He had problems interacting with other campers. However, with help from his counselors, and encouragement from Respondent, C.B. stayed at camp for eight weeks. During the summer of 1995, Respondent assisted C.B. with the completion of a science project. C.B. had to complete the project in order to be promoted to the eighth grade. Respondent's cabin was always open with CITs coming and going. There was no reasonable expectation of privacy in the cabin at any time. C.B.'s testimony that, at Respondent's request, he masturbated Respondent's penis in the cabin during a free activity period just before lunch is not credited. After returning from summer camp, C.B. went boating with Respondent and several other people. The group enjoyed snorkeling and water skiing. However, C.B. and Respondent were never alone on a boat. C.B. was in the eighth grade at Powell Middle School in the fall of 1995. Even though he was not in one of Respondent's classes, C.B. often received passes from his teachers to visit Respondent's classroom during the regular school day. C.B. participated in the ASP. Respondent regularly drove C.B. home following the close of the ASP. Respondent worked one-on-one with C.B. to improve his grades. Two to three times a week, Respondent visited C.B.'s home to tutor C.B. C.B.'s grades improved markedly. Respondent encouraged C.B. to set high school graduation as a goal. C.B. testified that, during the after school hours of the 1995-96 school year, he twice complied with Respondent's request to masturbate Respondent's penis on school grounds, either in the science classroom or the adjoining computer/storage room. This testimony is contrary to the greater weight of the evidence. On October 20, 1995, Respondent took C.B. to Disney World as a reward for his academic success during the first grading period. They traveled in Respondent's pick-up truck and shared the expenses of the trip. Respondent and C.B. arrived at the Disney World parking lot before the amusement park opened. They parked in front of the ticket booth around 9:00 or 9:30 a.m. Other cars were also arriving. Parking attendants and people waiting to enter the entertainment area were in close proximity to Respondent's vehicle at all times. Respondent and C.B. paid their entrance fee and entered the theme park as soon as it opened for business. With so many people around, there was no expectation of privacy in Respondent's truck. C.B.'s testimony that he masturbated Respondent's penis in the Disney World parking lot is not credited. During the 1995-96 school year, Respondent arranged for C.B. to attend a counseling session with a guidance counselor at Powell Middle School. Respondent made the appointment because he suspected that C.B. was the victim of abuse at home. On February 5, 1996, C.B. and his father had an argument. The father lost his temper and punched C.B. in the face and ear. C.B. did not go to school the next day. The school resource officer noticed bruises on C.B.'s face the following week at school. He reported his observations to an investigator from the Department of Children and Families. C.B.'s father admitted to the investigator that he hit C.B. in the face. The authorities took no legal action against C.B.'s father. C.B. attended camp at a reduced rate again in the summer of 1996. He went to Vermont early so that he could earn money working at camp before it opened. During the summer, Respondent bought C.B. a portable C.D. player, C.D.'s, and some articles of clothing with the understanding that C.B. would repay Respondent later. Mrs. Peady O'Connor, one of Respondent's friends, also went to camp in the summer of 1996 to work in the kitchen. C.B. stayed at camp all summer, returning home with Respondent and Mrs. O'Connor on August 16, 1996. Immediately upon his return to Florida, Respondent began having trouble with his truck. He took it to the shop on Saturday, August 17, 1996. He spent the rest of the day with a friend, Jackie Agard. Respondent did not go boating that weekend. School started on August 19, 1996 for the 1996-97 school year. Respondent returned to work at Powell Middle School as the technology resource coordinator. C.B. attended ninth grade at Springstead High School. On Tuesday, August 20, 1996, Respondent leased a new sport utility vehicle. It did not have a pre-installed trailer hitch. The next Saturday, August 24, 1996, Respondent spent the day with friends from out-of-town. He did not go boating that weekend. On August 29, 1996, Respondent purchased a trailer hitch. He intended to install the hitch personally. That same day, Respondent and Chuck Wall, a scuba diving instructor, met with C.B. and his parents. The purpose of the visit was to sign C.B. up for scuba diving lessons. Respondent agreed to pay for the lessons, as he had for those of other young people. On Saturday, August 31, 1996, Respondent took some of his friends to dinner and a movie in his new vehicle. He did not go boating that weekend. Respondent's boat was parked at the home of his parents all summer while Respondent was in Vermont. It was still there when Respondent installed the trailer hitch on his new vehicle on Labor Day, September 2, 1996. On September 3, 1996, Respondent took C.B. to his first scuba diving lesson. After the lesson, Respondent, C.B., and Mr. Wall took Respondent's boat to a marina at Crystal River. After launching Respondent's boat, Chuck Wall had difficulty getting the boat to run because it had not been used for such a long time. Respondent left his boat at the marina for the rest of the fall boating season. The greater weight of the evidence indicates that C.B. and Respondent never went boating alone. There was no inappropriate sexual conduct between C.B. and Respondent on Respondent's boat. On Saturday, September 7, 1996, Respondent took a group of students to Disney World. The trip was a reward for the students' involvement with a video yearbook project sponsored by Respondent. C.B. did not participate in the activity. The next Saturday, C.B.'s scuba diving lesson was cancelled. C.B. did not go boating with Respondent that weekend because he was on restrictions at home. On or about September 18, 1996, C.B.'s parents became aware that C.B. was responsible for long distance phone calls to a girl that C.B. met at camp. After a confrontation with his parents, C.B. ran away from home. On September 21, 1996, Respondent went to C.B.'s home. Respondent suggested that C.B.'s parents let C.B. live with the O'Connor family for a short period of time. He also suggested that C.B. receive counseling and agreed to arrange for the therapy. Mr. and Mrs. O'Connor, and their son and daughter, were close friends of Respondent. The son, Sean O'Connor, was away at college. The daughter, Jennifer, still lived at home. C.B.'s parents agreed to let C.B. live with the O'Connors on a trial basis, provided that C.B. remain on restrictions within the O'Connor home for a period of time. The O'Connors did not live within the Springstead High School district. Therefore, Respondent and the O'Connors worked together to provide C.B. with transportation to and from school. Respondent purchased C.B. a beeper to facilitate communication between C.B. and Mrs. O'Connor. After moving in with the O'Connors, C.B. was allowed to attend a football game. He did not meet Mrs. O'Connor after the game as he had been instructed. The police found C.B. and turned him over to C.B.'s stepmother. As soon as he got to the gate of his parent's property, C.B. got out of his stepmother's car and ran away again. The police eventually found C.B. at the home of his step-brother's girlfriend on October 2, 1996. C.B.'s parents told the police to release C.B. to Respondent's custody. Respondent took C.B. back to live with the O'Connors. October 7, 1996 was an early release day at school. Respondent, C.B., and another student left from school to look for a lost anchor. Later that evening, Respondent dropped off C.B. at the O'Connor residence, then proceeded to take the other student home. October 8, 1996, was a hurricane day for the school district. Mrs. O'Connor was at home all day. Respondent and C.B. were never alone in the O'Connor home. There is no persuasive evidence that Respondent ever performed anal intercourse upon C.B. at the O'Connors' home or at Powell Middle School in the storage closet of the computer room. During the time that C.B. lived with the O'Connors, Respondent arranged for C.B. to attend two counseling sessions with a school psychologist. On Thursday, October 24, 1996, C.B.'s father decided that he wanted C.B. to move back home. When the father arrived at the O'Connor's home, C.B. attempted to have a heart-to-heart talk with his father. When the father insisted that C.B. return home, C.B. ran out into the yard of the O'Connor home. The father caught up with C.B. and, during the ensuing struggle, repeatedly punched C.B. in the face. The O'Connors called the police. C.B.'s father was arrested and taken to jail. The next day, C.B.'s stepmother filed a police report alleging that Respondent had sexually abused C.B. After his father was arrested, C.B. spent one night with his stepbrother. His stepmother told him not to attend school the next day. She wanted C.B. to go with her to talk to the authorities and to get C.B.'s father out of jail. Despite these instructions, C.B. rode to school with the O'Connors' daughter. When C.B.'s stepmother discovered that he was at school, she went to pick him up. When she arrived at school, C.B. refused to go home with her. Because he would not go home with his stepmother, C.B. was taken to a youth shelter. He ran away from the shelter that night. C.B. continued to attend school while on run away status. On October 29, 1996 and November 6, 1996, a deputy sheriff interviewed C.B. about the allegations raised by his stepmother. On both occasions, C.B. denied that Respondent had ever engaged in or attempted to engage in inappropriate conduct with him. On November 8, 1996, a sheriff's detective, Detective Baxley, and a worker from the Department of Children and Families each questioned C.B. C.B. again denied ever having any sexual contact with Respondent. In November 1996, C.B. returned to live with his parents. On November 13, 1996, the day that C.B.'s father's made his first court appearance, C.B. told the state attorney, in the presence of both parents, that he did not want to press charges against his father. The charges were subsequently dropped. On November 18, 1996, Detective Baxley and Detective Cameron interrogated C.B. Towards the end of the interview, C.B. accused Respondent of having inappropriate sexual contact with him on two occasions. C.B. alleged that he had masturbated Respondent's penis in Respondent's cabin at camp in the summer of 1996.3 C.B. also alleged that he had masturbated Respondent's penis on Respondent's boat in Crystal River sometime in the early fall of 1996, within weeks of the beginning of school. The detectives had C.B. call Respondent. They taped the conversation without Respondent's knowledge. C.B. told Respondent that the police had given him a polygraph when in fact they had used a computer voice stress analyzer. Respondent told C.B. he had nothing to worry about as long as he told the truth. The police interrogated C.B. again on November 27, 1996. During this interview, C.B. accused Respondent of inappropriate sexual conduct, involving masturbation of Respondent's penis, in Respondent's science classroom or the computer room at Powell Middle School during after school hours of the 1995-96 school year. Respondent was arrested on or about December 5, 1996. In January of 1997, C.B. alleged for the first time that he masturbated Respondent's penis in the parking lot at Disney World on October 20, 1995. On March 27, 1997, C.B. accused Respondent of having anal sex with him at the O'Connor residence during a "hurricane day" in October of 1996. On April 16, 1997, C.B. accused Respondent of having anal sex with him in the walk-in closet of the computer/storage room at Powell Middle School on two occasions in September or October of 1996. A.P. Respondent met A.P., a sixth grade student at Powell Middle School in 1995 as a participant in the ASP. A.P. was a very out-going person, who demanded attention. At times, Respondent, as director of ASP, had to discipline A.P. During his sixth grade year, A.P. would routinely visit Respondent's classroom during the school day even though Respondent was not one of his teachers. A.P. often visited Respondent during ASP. Respondent frequently gave A.P. a ride home after ASP. Respondent offered A.P. a scholarship to attend Camp Sangamon in the summer of 1995. With the consent of his parents, A.P. attended camp at a reduced rate for three weeks that summer. In the fall of 1995, A.P. was in the seventh grade. He was in a science class taught by Respondent. He continued to attend the ASP. Respondent worked on computers during the times that A.P. and other students visited in the computer room. There is no persuasive evidence that pornographic pictures of nude males on the Internet ever appeared on the computer monitors while Respondent was operating a computer in A.P.'s presence. In January of 1996, A.P. continued to visit Respondent in Respondent's classroom or in the computer room after school. Respondent did not at any time ask A.P. to touch Respondent in a sexually inappropriate manner. Respondent never masturbated A.P.'s penis on school property. Respondent developed a plan for A.P. to work and earn money so that he could attend camp during the summer of 1996. A.P. did not follow through with the plan. Consequently, he did not attend camp for the second time. In the fall of 1996, A.P. entered the eighth grade at Powell Middle School. A.P. continued to visit Respondent in the computer room after school up until the police arrested Respondent. Just before Respondent's arrest, Detective Baxley, interviewed several of Respondent's students. One of those students was A.P. Of his own accord, Detective Baxley went to A.P.'s home to interview him. During the interview, A.P. told the detective that Respondent had shown him pornographic pictures from the Internet in the school's computer room. A.P. also claimed that, on one occasion, A.P. declined Respondent's request for A.P. to touch Respondent's penis. On another occasion, Respondent allegedly masturbated A.P.'s penis. According to A.P., the latter two incidents took place in the computer room.
Recommendation Based upon the findings of fact and conclusions of law, it RECOMMENDED: That the Hernando County School Board enter a Final Order finding Respondent not quilty of improper sexual conduct with C.B. and A.P., and reinstating Respondent to his teaching position, with back pay, less interim earnings, benefits, and no break in seniority of years of continuous service. DONE AND ENTERED this 10th day of September, 1998, in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida. SUZANNE F. HOOD 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 Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 10th day of September, 1998.
