08-005955PL Dr. Eric J. Smith, As Commissioner Of Education vs. Allison Marie Reopel Status: Closed Recommended Order on Monday, September 21, 2009.

Summary: Respondent engaged in an inappropriate personal relationship with a student.

STATE OF FLORIDA

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

DR. ERIC J. SMITH, AS )

COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION, )

)

Petitioner, )

)

vs. ) Case No. 08-5955PL

)

ALLISON MARIE REOPEL, )

)

Respondent. )

)

RECOMMENDED ORDER

Pursuant to notice, a final hearing was held in this case

on May 19 and June 3, 2009, in Orlando, Florida, before Susan B.

Harrell, a designated Administrative Law Judge of the Division

of Administrative Hearings.

APPEARANCES

For Petitioner: Ron Weaver, Esquire

Post Office Box 5675

Douglasville, Georgia 30154-0012

For Respondent: Gary D. Wilson, Esquire

Jill S. Schwartz & Associates, P.A.

180 North Park Avenue, Suite 200

Winter Park, Florida 32789-7401

STATEMENT OF THE ISSUES

The issues in this case are whether Respondent violated

Florida Statutes (2006), 1 and Florida Administrative Code

if so, what discipline should be imposed.

PRELIMINARY STATEMENT

On July 24, 2008, Petitioner issued an Administrative

Complaint against Respondent, Allison Marie Reopel (Ms. Reopel),

alleging that she engaged in an inappropriate romantic and

sexual relationship with a student in violation of Subsections

Statutes, and Florida Administrative Code Rules 6B-1.006(3)(a),

6B-1.006(3)(e), and 6B-1.006(3)(h). Ms. Reopel requested an

administrative hearing, and, on December 1, 2008, the case was

forwarded to the Division of Administrative Hearings for

assignment to an Administrative Law Judge to conduct a final

hearing.

The final hearing was originally scheduled for February 12,

2009, but was continued twice. The parties entered into a Joint

Pre-hearing Stipulation in which the parties stipulated to

certain facts contained in Section E of the Joint Pre-hearing

Stipulation. Those facts have been incorporated into this

Recommended Order.

At the final hearing, Petitioner called the following

witnesses: Edward Leonard Smith, Michael Scott Hanson,

Luz Vanessa Schaeffer, Maxine Risper, Nestor Juan Velazquez,

Rosa Cruz Flores, Melissa Lee Moser, Rose Stewart Kellam, and

Tiffany Marie Pagan. Petitioner’s Exhibits 1 and 2 were

admitted in evidence.

At the final hearing, Ms. Reopel testified in her own

behalf and called the following witnesses: Marianne Pena,

Angel Manuel Pagan, Maria Santiago Pagan, and Tiffany Marie

Pagan. Respondent’s Exhibits 1 through 7, 9, 11, and 12 were

admitted in evidence.

The five-volume Transcript was filed on July 23, 2009. On

July 31, 2009, Petitioner filed Petitioner’s Unopposed Motion

for Extension of Time to File Proposed Recommended Orders. The

motion was granted, and the time for filing proposed recommended

orders was extended to August 13, 2009. Petitioner timely filed

Petitioner’s Proposed Recommended Order on August 13, 2009.

Respondent, Alison Marie Reopel’s Proposed Recommended Order

arrived at the Division of Administrative Hearings at 5:03 p.m.

on August 13, 2009, which meant the Proposed Recommended Order

was deemed filed as of August 14, 2009. On August 14, 2009,

Ms. Reopel filed an unopposed motion to accept her Proposed

Recommended Order. The motion was granted by Order dated

August 17, 2009. Careful consideration has been given to the

parties’ Proposed Recommended Orders in the preparation of this

Recommended Order.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Ms. Reopel holds Florida Educator’s Certificate 973284,

covering the area of social science. The certificate is valid

through June 30, 2008.

2. At all times pertinent to the allegations in the

Administrative Complaint, Ms. Reopel was employed as a social

studies teacher and an assistant softball coach at Oak Ridge

High School (Oak Ridge) in the Orange County School District

(School District). In April 2007, Ms. Reopel was 25 years old.

3. In the 2006-2007 school year, Tiffany Pagan was a

senior at Oak Ridge. She turned 18 years of age on April 6,

2007. She was not a student in one of Ms. Reopel’s academic

classes. At Oak Ridge, a student was not to assist a teacher

unless the student had been assigned to the teacher as a student

assistant. Ms. Pagan was not a student assistant assigned to

Ms. Reopel. However, Ms. Pagan was a member of the girls’

softball team for which Ms. Reopel coached. Ms. Pagan was part

of a work-study program at Oak Ridge, in which she took some

academic classes and then left the school campus to work. Once

a student who was participating in the work-study program

completed classes, the student was to leave the campus.

4. Ms. Pagan has engaged in a sexual relationship with

more than one girl while she was a student at Oak Ridge.

Ms. Pagan did not make it a secret that she liked girls, and

Ms. Reopel was aware that Ms. Pagan was a lesbian.

5. In April 2007, Ms. Reopel’s classroom was a portable

classroom with windows facing a covered hallway located outside

the classroom. In order to see into the classroom from the

outside, one would have to lean toward the window and press

independent drawings of the configuration of the classroom,

Ms. Reopel’s desk was located in a corner area of the classroom

where no windows were located and near an area in which three-

drawer file cabinets were placed in front of the windows. Based

on their description of the location of the room’s furnishings,

it would be difficult at best to see the desk from outside the

classroom while walking past the classroom.

6. On April 12, 2007, Edward Smith, a technology support

representative at Oak Ridge, was inventorying the computer

equipment at the school. At mid-day, he went to Ms. Reopel’s

classroom and found it locked. 2 Using his master key, he entered

the classroom. The lights were off, but there was sufficient

light coming from the windows so that he could see clearly.

7. He walked into the classroom, thinking that there was

no one in the room because the lights were out. He heard a

movement and looked up. Mr. Smith saw Ms. Reopel sitting in a

chair behind and slightly to the right side of her desk. There

was a female student on the floor on her knees facing

Ms. Reopel. The student had her left arm propped on the desk.

Mr. Smith does not recall seeing any papers on the floor near

Ms. Reopel and the student.

8. Mr. Smith observed Ms. Reopel make two downward and

upward motions as if she were pulling her clothes up.

Ms. Reopel asked Mr. Smith if she could help him, and he told

her that he was counting computers. He counted the computers in

the room and left. Neither Ms. Reopel nor the student got up.

The student never turned around.

9. After Mr. Smith exited the classroom, he went past the

windows and looked toward the classroom. He could not see

inside the classroom. After making sure that he was past the

classroom windows, he used his radio to call the assistant

principal at Oak Ridge, Michael Scott Hanson, to let the

assistant principal know what he had just seen.

10. Mr. Hanson and Mr. Smith advised Maxine Risper, the

principal at Oak Ridge, of what Mr. Smith had seen. Ms. Risper

advised Orange County School District Employee Relations

(Employee Relations) of the situation. The following day

Ms. Reopel was relieved of her classroom duties and told to

report to Employee Relations.

11. After some investigation, it was revealed that

Ms. Pagan was the student that Mr. Smith had seen in

Ms. Reopel’s classroom. Ms. Pagan was called into Ms. Risper’s

office to discuss the incident with Ms. Reopel. At first,

Ms. Pagan denied any relationship with Ms. Reopel, but later

admitted that she did have a relationship with Ms. Reopel.

Ms. Pagan said that the relationship had not begun until she

turned 18 years old.

12. Ms. Pagan’s mother was called to come to the school.

When Mrs. Pagan learned of the allegations, she became angry

with her daughter. Ms. Pagan wanted to know whether the

incident would affect Ms. Pagan’s graduation.

13. The day after the incident, April 13, 2007, Melissa

Moser, the head softball coach and Ms. Reopel’s friend and

colleague, became concerned that Ms. Reopel was not at school.

That evening, she went to Ms. Reopel’s apartment to learn why

Ms. Reopel had not been at school. Ms. Reopel told Ms. Moser

that the day before she and her boyfriend had been caught in her

classroom while involved in sexual activity, and that was why

she had been relieved of her teaching duties.

14. On Monday, April 16, 2007, Ms. Moser had heard

students talking about Ms. Reopel not returning to the

classroom. That evening Ms. Moser sent a text message to

Ms. Reopel asking Ms. Reopel whether Ms. Reopel’s having been

relieved of teaching duties had anything to do with Ms. Pagan.

At first, Ms. Reopel replied that it did not, but, after further

questioning, Ms. Reopel told Ms. Moser that nothing physical had

happened with Ms. Pagan until Ms. Pagan was 18 years old.

15. By letter dated April 17, 2008, Employee Relations

requested Ms. Reopel to attend a meeting to discuss the

allegations. By letter dated April 18, 2008, Ms. Reopel

submitted her resignation to the School District.

16. Both Ms. Reopel and Ms. Pagan deny that any romantic

relationship existed between them until after Ms. Pagan

graduated from high school. However, Ms. Pagan made statements

to numerous witnesses concerning her romantic involvement with

Ms. Reopel prior to April 12, 2007.

17. During the 2006-2007 school year, Nestor Velazquez was

a classmate and close friend of Ms. Pagan. In February 2007,

Ms. Pagan told Mr. Velazquez that she was having sexual

relations with another female. At the time, Ms. Pagan did not

reveal the identity of her lover. During this time, Ms. Pagan

was also having romantic relationships with another female,

Marianne Pena, and a male.

18. Sometime between March 13 and April 12, 2007,

Ms. Pagan confided to Mr. Velazquez that she had been having a

sexual relationship with Ms. Reopel. Ms. Pagan described sexual

acts that had occurred with Ms. Reopel, including the use of

sexual aids. While at the Oak Ridge school library, Ms. Pagan

and her friend, Liz Ortiz, told Mr. Velazquez about an incident

in which Ms. Reopel, Ms. Ortiz, Ms. Pagan, and Cindy Rivera had

gone to Ms. Reopel’s apartment where Ms. Reopel and Ms. Pagan

had sex in the bedroom and the other couple had sex in the

living room. Ms. Pagan told Mr. Velazquez that Ms. Reopel’s cat

had scratched one of the females in the living room on the

female’s buttock, while she was engaged in sexual activity.

19. Mr. Velazquez’s mother, Rosa Cruz Flores, became good

friends with Ms. Pagan, Ms. Ortiz, and Ms. Rivera. All three

students came to Ms. Flores’ home at various times. Ms. Pagan

and Ms. Flores had worked at the same movie theater. Ms. Pagan

would tell Ms. Flores personal things. Ms. Flores knew that

Ms. Pagan dated both males and females. Ms. Pagan had told

Ms. Flores about her relationship with a person, Ms. Pagan

referred to as “baby.”

20. In March 2007, Ms. Flores, had a birthday party for

Mr. Velazquez. Ms. Pagan arrived at the party late. As she was

talking to Ms. Flores, Ms. Pagan began texting a message on her

telephone. Ms. Flores asked Ms. Pagan to whom she was texting,

and Ms. Pagan replied that it was “baby.” Ms. Ortiz and

Ms. Rivera, who were also at the party, urged Ms. Pagan to tell

Ms. Flores the identity of “baby.” Ms. Pagan told Ms. Flores

that she was dating her softball coach, Ms. Reopel.

21. Ms. Pagan had sent a text message to Ms. Reopel to

come to the party to pick her up. Ms. Reopel did go to

Ms. Flores’ home to get Ms. Pagan. Ms. Reopel did not get out

of her vehicle, and Ms. Flores did not see Ms. Reopel.

22. Ms. Flores candidly admitted that during the birthday

party, she served alcoholic beverages to underage students,

including Ms. Pagan. Ms. Flores claims that she had 12 Smirnoff

beverages, which were served to the party attendees. Ms. Pagan

claimed that she drank “a whole six-pack . . . maybe a little

less.” Ms. Pagan claims that she called Ms. Reopel to come and

get her because she was intoxicated and that there was no one

else to take her home because Ms. Flores was the only adult at

the party, and the rest of the attendees did not have cars.

Ms. Pagan further contends that she called Ms. Reopel as an

emergency measure because she could not let her father know that

she had been drinking and that Ms. Reopel had told her softball

team that they could call her in an emergency. Ms. Pagan’s

testimony is not credible. Ms. Pagan had been texting messages

to Ms. Reopel while Ms. Pagan was at the party and prior to

texting a request for a ride home from the party. Such action

indicates that Ms. Pagan was not making an emergency call for

help to Ms. Reopel in the context of a student calling a teacher

for help. The request was made in the context of a relationship

that went beyond teacher and student. Additionally, it is not

credible that Ms. Flores would have allowed Ms. Pagan to consume

a six-pack of alcoholic beverages.

23. Sometime in the spring of 2007, Ms. Flores went to Oak

Ridge to pick up Mr. Velazquez. While she was there, Ms. Flores

saw Ms. Pagan, who began to tell Ms. Flores about the cat

scratching one of the girls at Ms. Reopel’s apartment. During

the conversation, Ms. Pagan confided that she and Ms. Reopel had

been having sex in another room when the scratching incident

took place.

24. On April 17, 2007, Ms. Pagan wrote a letter to

Ms. Ortiz concerning the incident with Ms. Reopel on April 12.

Ms. Pagan wrote:

I feel like my whole life is slowly coming

to an end. I don’t know what I will do if

this all ends really badly. My life as I

know it will be nothing. I just don’t know

what to do! I don’t think I will be able to

handle this. I have dealt with something

like this before but its different this time

because I didn’t love the other person. I

love her so much and what have I done, I

have ruined her life. I don’t deserve to

have her love me. I don’t even deserve to

have her in my life at all. I don’t deserve

to have anything good in my life. But then

I can’t be without her because then I feel

like nothing.

Ms. Pagan now claims that the love for Ms. Reopel to which she

was referring was just the love that a friend has for another

friend and not a romantic love. Given statements that Ms. Pagan

made to others concerning her relationship with Ms. Reopel,

Ms. Pagan’s assertion that she was not talking about a romantic

love is not credible.

25. After the April 12, 2007, incident between Ms. Pagan

and Ms. Reopel, Ms. Flores got a telephone call from a friend

who told her about the incident. Ms. Flores tried to contact a

local television station concerning the incident, but was put on

hold. Ms. Flores contacted Mr. Velazquez’s father and told him

what she had heard. Mr. Velazquez contacted another television

station about what Ms. Flores had told him.

26. A reporter from the television station contacted

Ms. Flores for an interview, but Ms. Flores refused to give an

interview. Mr. Velazquez did talk to the reporter and gave his

views on the matter.

27. Ms. Flores went to see Ms. Risper. At that point,

Ms. Risper was still investigating the allegations against

Ms. Reopel. Ms. Flores told Ms. Risper that Ms. Pagan was

probably the student who was involved in the incident.

28. As a result of the incident of April 12 and the

attention that resulted from the media and students at Oak

Ridge, Ms. Pagan was not allowed to walk with her classmates at

Oak Ridge for graduation. Ms. Pagan did walk with students from

Freedom High School at graduation and did receive a diploma from

Oak Ridge. Additionally, as a result of the situation created

by the relationship between Ms. Reopel and Ms. Pagan,

Ms. Pagan’s brother, who had been attending Oak Ridge, was

transferred to another high school.

29. As of the date of the final hearing, Ms. Reopel and

Ms. Pagan were engaged in a romantic lesbian relationship and

were living together in the home of Ms. Pagan’s parents. Both

Ms. Reopel and Ms. Pagan claim that their romantic relationship

did not begin until after Ms. Pagan graduated from high school.

Their contention is not credited.

30. Based on the clear and convincing evidence presented,

Ms. Reopel and Ms. Pagan had begun an inappropriate personal

relationship prior to Ms. Pagan turning 18 years old and prior

to Ms. Pagan’s graduation from high school.

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

31. The Division of Administrative Hearings has

jurisdiction over the parties to and the subject matter of this

proceeding. §§ 120.569 and 120.57, Fla. Stat. (2008).

32. Petitioner has the burden to establish the allegations

by clear and convincing evidence. Department of Banking and

Finance v. Osborne Stern and Co. , 670 So. 2d 932 (Fla. 1996).

Petitioner has alleged that Ms. Reopel violated Subsections

Statutes, and Florida Administrative Code Rules 6B-1.006(3)(a),

6B-1.006(3)(e), and 6B-1.006(3)(h) by engaging “in an

inappropriate romantic and sexual relationship with student,

T.P.” during the 2006-2007 school year.

33. Subsection 1012.795(1), Florida Statutes, provides:

(1) The Education Practices Commission may

suspend the educator certificate of any

person as defined in s. 1012.01(2) or (3)

for a period of time not to exceed 5 years,

thereby denying that person the right to

teach or otherwise be employed by a district

school board or public school in any

capacity requiring direct contact with

students for that period of time, after

which the holder may return to teaching as

provided in subsection (4); may revoke the

educator certificate of any person, thereby

denying that person the right to teach or

otherwise be employed by a district school

board or public school in any capacity

requiring direct contact with students for a

period of time not to exceed 10 years, with

reinstatement subject to the provisions of

subsection (4); may revoke permanently the

educator certificate of any person thereby

denying that person the right to teach or

otherwise be employed by a district school

board or public school in any capacity

requiring direct contact with students; may

suspend the educator certificate, upon order

of the court, of any person found to have a

delinquent child support obligation; or may

impose any other penalty provided by law,

provided it can be shown that the person:

* * *

(c) Has been guilty of gross immorality or

an act involving moral turpitude.

* * *

(f) Upon investigation, has been found

guilty of personal conduct which seriously

reduces that person's effectiveness as an

employee of the district school board.

* * *

(i) Has violated the Principles of

Professional Conduct for the Education

Profession prescribed by State Board of

Education rules.

34. Section 1012.795, Florida Statutes, does not define

in defining the terms "immorality" and "moral turpitude" in

Subsection 1012.795(1)(c), Florida Statutes, are the rules

relating to disciplinary actions which may be taken by school

districts. Florida Administrative Code Rules 6B-4.009(2)

and 6B-4.009(6) provide:

(2) Immorality is defined as conduct that

is inconsistent with the standards of public

conscience and good morals. It is conduct

sufficiently notorious to bring the

individual concerned or the education

profession into public disgrace or

disrespect and impair the individual's

service in the community.

* * *

(6) Moral turpitude is a crime that is

evidenced by an act of baseness, vileness or

depravity in the private and social duties,

which, according to the accepted standards

of the time a man owes to his or her fellow

man or to society in general, and the doing

of the act itself and not its prohibition by

statute fixes the moral turpitude.

35. Florida Administrative Code Rule 6B-1.006 provides:

(1) The following disciplinary rule shall

constitute the Principles of Professional

Conduct for the Education Profession in

Florida.

(2) Violation of any of these principles

shall subject the individual to revocation

or suspension of the individual educator’s

certificate, or the other penalties as

provided by law.

(3) Obligation to the student requires that

the individual:

(a) Shall make reasonable effort to protect

the student from conditions harmful to

learning and/or to the student’s mental

and/or physical health and/or safety.

* * *

(e) Shall not intentionally expose a

student to unnecessary embarrassment or

disparagement.

* * *

(h) Shall not exploit a relationship with a

student for personal gain or advantage.

36. Petitioner has established by clear and convincing

evidence that an inappropriate personal and physical

relationship existed between Ms. Reopel and Ms. Pagan prior to

Ms. Pagan’s turning 18 years of age and prior to Ms. Pagan’s

graduation from high school. Mr. Smith found Ms. Reopel and

Ms. Pagan in a locked classroom at lunch time with the lights

out. There was no reason for Ms. Pagan to be in the classroom

with Ms. Reopel. Ms. Pagan was not assigned as a student

assistant to Ms. Reopel, and Ms. Pagan was finished with her

classes for the day and should not have been on the campus.

Although, the evidence did not clearly establish that the two

women were engaged in sexual activity on April 12, 2007, their

positions in relation to one another when Mr. Smith entered the

classroom and their actions upon his entrance are suggestive

that the relationship between the two women was more than a

student helping a teacher sort papers. If nothing inappropriate

was happening, the natural reaction of Ms. Pagan would have been

to turn and look at the person who had unlocked the door and

entered the room. Ms. Pagan never turned around. If Ms. Pagan

had been sorting papers for Ms. Reopel and papers were around

the desk, as Ms. Pagan claimed, Mr. Smith would have seen the

papers. He did not recall seeing any papers on the floor. The

position of Ms. Pagan when Mr. Smith entered the room, on her

knees in front of Ms. Reopel with her arm on the edge of

Ms. Reopel’s desk, while Ms. Reopel was seated in her chair, is

not a position that one would take while sorting papers.

37. After Mr. Smith reported what he saw to Oak Ridge

administration and the rumors started circulating, Ms. Reopel

told Ms. Moser that she had gotten caught with her boyfriend in

the classroom. Later when Ms. Moser asked if Ms. Pagan was

involved, Ms. Reopel confessed to Ms. Moser that nothing

physical had happened between her and Ms. Pagan until Ms. Pagan

had turned 18 years old. When Ms. Pagan was confronted by

Ms. Risper, Ms. Pagan also said that nothing had happened until

she was 18 years old.

38. The letter that Ms. Pagan wrote to Ms. Ortiz after the

April 12 incident shows that Ms. Pagan was in love with

Ms. Reopel and that Ms. Pagan believed that Ms. Reopel was in

love with her. The letter clearly shows that the relationship

between Ms. Pagan and Ms. Reopel was more than an appropriate

student-teacher relationship.

39. Ms. Pagan was very open about her relationships with

other women, and it was no secret that Ms. Pagan had sexual

relationships with women. Thus, given Ms. Pagan’s willingness

to discuss her personal life with others, it is credible that

she told both Nestor Velazquez and Ms. Flores about her romantic

relationship with Ms. Reopel prior to Ms. Pagan graduating from

high school.

40. Ms. Reopel and Ms. Pagan are currently in a sexual

relationship and are living together in Ms. Pagan’s parents’

home. According to both Ms. Reopel and Ms. Pagan their affair

did not start until less than a month after Ms. Pagan graduated

from high school. Their testimony is not credible, and their

current sexual relationship gives credence to an inappropriate

relationship while Ms. Pagan was a student at Oak Ridge.

41. Petitioner has established by clear and convincing

evidence that Ms. Reopel violated Subsection 1012.795(1)(c),

Florida Statutes, by having a romantic relationship with

Ms. Pagan while Ms. Pagan was a student at Oak Ridge where

Ms. Reopel taught. It does not matter whether Ms. Pagan was

18 years old at the time she and Ms. Reopel engaged in a

physical, romantic relationship. The relationship began while

Ms. Pagan was a student at Oak Ridge. Teachers are

traditionally held to a high moral standard in a community.

Adams v. Professional Practices Council , 406 So. 2d 1170, 1172

(Fla. 1st DCA 1981). A teacher becoming romantically involved

with a student is a serious act of misconduct which constitutes

a flagrant disregard of proper moral standards.

42. Petitioner has established by clear and convincing

evidence that Ms. Reopel violated Subsection 1012.795(1)(f),

Florida Statutes. Her relationship with Ms. Pagan while Ms.

Pagan was a student at Oak Ridge seriously reduced Ms. Reopel’s

effectiveness as a teacher. Rumors were circulating among the

students at Oak Ridge about the relationship. The local news

media reported the relationship, and information about the

relationship appeared on websites. Such notoriety would reduce

Ms. Reopel’s effectiveness as teacher in both the eyes of

parents and students.

43. Petitioner has established by clear and convincing

evidence that Ms. Reopel violated Subsection 1012.795(1)(i),

Florida Statutes, by violating Florida Administrative Code

engaging in a romantic relationship with a student, Ms. Reopel

failed to make a reasonable effort to protect the student from

conditions harmful to learning and to the student’s mental

health as required by Florida Administrative Code

Rule 6B-1.006(3)(a). A teacher is supposed to serve as a role

model to students and to maintain the proper teacher-student

relationship with students, and, to do otherwise, results in an

atmosphere which is not conducive to learning.

44. By engaging in a romantic relationship with a student,

Ms. Reopel intentionally exposed the student to unnecessary

embarrassment in violation of Florida Administrative Code

Rule 6B-1.006(3)(e). The relationship was reported by the local

television station. Rumors were circulating at Oak Ridge about

the relationship. Because of the relationship, Ms. Pagan was

unable to walk with her graduating class at Oak Ridge to receive

her diploma.

45. By engaging in a romantic relationship with Ms. Pagan

while Ms. Pagan was a student at Oak Ridge, Ms. Reopel exploited

the teacher/coach relationship with Ms. Pagan to satisfy

Ms. Reopel’s need for an intimate relationship in violation of

Florida Administrative Code Rule 6B-1.006(3)(e). Although

Ms. Pagan may have been a willing participant in the

relationship, Ms. Reopel had the responsibility to maintain a

relationship with Ms. Pagan that did not include romantic

overtones.

RECOMMENDATION

Based on the foregoing Findings of Fact and Conclusions of

Law, it is RECOMMENDED that a final order be entered finding

that Ms. Reopel violated Subsections 1012.795(1)(c),

1012.795(1)(f), and 1012.795(1)(i), Florida Statutes; finding

that Ms. Reopel violated Florida Administrative Code

permanently revoking her teaching certificate.

DONE AND ENTERED this 21st day of September, 2009, in

Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida.

S

SUSAN B. HARRELL

Administrative Law Judge

Division of Administrative Hearings

The DeSoto Building

1230 Apalachee Parkway

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-3060

[phone]

Fax Filing [phone]

www.doah.state.fl.us

Filed with the Clerk of the

Division of Administrative Hearings

this 21st day of September, 2009.

ENDNOTES

1/ Unless otherwise indicated, all references to the Florida

Statutes are to the 2006 version.

2/ Ms. Reopel contends that the room was locked pursuant to the

Oak Ridge policy which required teachers to keep their doors

locked after the school bell rang for class so that tardy

students could not enter the classroom. This explanation for

the locking of the classroom is not credible because at the time

Mr. Smith found the door locked, there was no class in session

and it was lunch time. Thus, there would be no reason to lock

the door to keep tardy students from entering the classroom.

COPIES FURNISHED :

Ron Weaver, Esquire

Post Office Box 5675

Douglasville, Georgia 30154-0012

Gary D. Wilson, Esquire

Jill S. Schwartz & Associates, P.A.

180 North Park Avenue, Suite 200

Winter Park, Florida 32789-7401

Kathleen M. Richards, Executive Director

Education Practices Commission

Department of Education

Turlington Building, Suite 224-E

325 West Gaines Street

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0400

Deborah K. Kearney, General Counsel

Department of Education

Turlington Building, Suite 1244

325 West Gaines Street

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0400

Marian Lambeth, Bureau Chief

Bureau of Professional Practices Services

Department of Education

Turlington Building, Suite 224-E

325 West Gaines Street

Tallahassee, Florida, 32399-0400

NOTICE OF RIGHT TO SUBMIT EXCEPTIONS

All parties have the right to submit written exceptions within

15 days from the date of this Recommended Order. Any exceptions

to this Recommended Order should be filed with the agency that

will issue the Final Order in this case.