17-006312TTS Broward County School Board vs. Lula G. Faison Status: Closed Recommended Order on Friday, July 6, 2018.

Summary: School Board failed to meet its burden and demonstrate just cause to suspend Respondent for 10 days.

STATE OF FLORIDA

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

BROWARD COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD,

Petitioner,

vs. Case No. 17 - 6312TTS

LULA G. FAISON,

Respondent.

_______________________________/

RECOMMENDED ORDER

Pursuant to notice, a hearing was conducted in this case on

March 15 and 16, 2018 , before Administrative Law Judge June C.

McKinney of the Division of Administrative Hearings in Fort

Lauderdale, Florida , pursuant to the authori ty set forth in

s ections 120.569 and 120.57(1), Florida Statut es (2018) .

APPEARANCES

For Petitioner: Tria Lawton - Russell , Esquire

School Board of Broward County

600 Southeast Third Avenue, Eleventh Floor

Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301

For Respondent: Robert F. M cKee , Esquire

Robert F. McKee, P.A.

Post Office Box 75638

Tampa, Florida 33675

STATEMENT OF THE ISSUE

The issue in this case is whether there is just cause for

Broward County School Board to suspend Lul a Faison for 10 days

without pay based upon the allegations made in its

Administrative Complaint filed on October 11, 2017.

PRELIMINARY STATEMENT

By Administrative Complaint dated October 11, 2017 , Lula

Faison ( " Respondent " or " Faison " ) was notified that Broward

County School Board ( " Petitioner " or " School Board " ) was

recommending to suspend Respondent without pay for 10 days.

Respondent timely elected to dispute the reasons for the

suspension and requested a hearing . Because s he requested a

formal proc eeding, the matter was referred to the Division of

Administrative Hearings ( " DOAH " ) . On December 7, 2017, a final

hearing was scheduled to start March 15, 2018, and t he case

proceeded as scheduled .

At hearing, the School Board presented the testimony

of five witnesses : Adolphe Rodny Felix (" Felix ") ,

paraprofessional ; Eadina Jackson Hunt (" Hunt " ) , paraprofessional

and behavior specialist ; Olusola Onagoruwa ( " Onagoruwa " ) , c hild

p rotective i nvestigations s ection investigator ; Benard Canellas

( " Canellas " ) , d etective ; Traci Porter ( " Porter " ) , assistant

principal; and by deposition Steve Larson ( " Larson " ) , principal .

Petitioner ' s Exhibits numbered 1 , 3.1, 3.3, 3.6, 3.22 through

3.26, 8 , 9, 11, 13, 15 , 16, and 18 through 30 were admitted into

evidence. Respond ent testified on her own behalf and offered no

exhibits .

At the conclusion of the hearing, the parties stipulated to

filing their proposed recommended orders within 30 days of the

filing of the hearing transcript.

The proceedings were transcribed and th e parties availed

themselves of the right to submit proposed recommended o rders

after the filing of the t ranscript. The two - volume T ranscript

of the final hearing was filed with DOAH on April 5, 2018 .

The parties proposed recommended orders were due on or

before May 7, 2018. Petitioner filed her Proposed Recommended

Order on May 7, 2018 and Respondent filed its Proposed

Recommended Order On May 8, 2018. On May 9, 2018, Petitioner

filed Petitioner's Motion to Strike Respondent ' s Proposed

Recommended Ord er and Amended Proposed Recommended Order. That

same day Respondent filed Respondent ' s Motion to F ile Proposed

Reco mmended Order One Day O ut of Time ( " Motion " ) . On May 15,

2018, Petitioner filed Petitioner ' s Reply to Respondent ' s Motion

to File Proposed Recommended Order One Day Out of Time. The

undersigned granted the Motion . Both timely filed p roposed

r ecommended o rders have been considered in the preparation of

this Recommended Order.

Unless otherwise indicated, citations to the official

statute law of the state of Florida refer to Florida Statutes

201 6 .

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Petitioner is a duly - constituted s chool board charged

with the duty to operate, control, and supervise all free public

schools within Broward County . Art. IX, Fl a . Const. ; § 10 01.32,

Fla. Stat. Specifically, the School Board has the authority to

discipline employees. § 1012.22(1)(f), Fla. Stat.

2. Faison was hired by the School Board on February 10,

2004. She started her employment with the School Board at

Sunset Center Scho ol , an off - campus program at Smith Community

Health , where she taught for approximately four years. Sh e was

employed pursuant to a professional services contract with

Broward County .

3. Faison is a certified Exceptional Student Education

( " ESE " ) and Eng lish for Speakers of Other Languages ( " ESOL " )

teacher. She has worked with Emotional/Behavioral Disability

( " EBD " ) 1 / students her whole career with Broward County.

4. She started workin g for Pompano Beach Elementary S chool

( " Pompano " ) during the 2010 - 201 1 school year as a n ESE teacher

for EBD students. During her first two years at Pompano , she

had fourth - and fifth - grade EBD students.

5. During the 2015 - 2016 school year, Faison ' s classroom

was mixed with 10 EBD students in grades kindergarten, first,

s econd, and third , with ages ranging from six to 10 or 11. The

younger kids mimicked the older students ' behavior , and it was

challenging for Faison to control the classroom.

6. Faison ' s classroom had the highest rate of incidents

compared to the other E BD classrooms in the cluster at Pompano.

7. Faison had both a paraprofessional , Hunt , and a

substitute teacher, Pop ov, to assist in her classroom to help

bring order. Hunt was assigned to assist Faison in her

classroom with point sheets, monitoring the children, helping

isolate behaviors , as well as m anage and teach students.

8. A.J. was approximately nine years old when he joined

the EBD program during the 2015 - 2016 school year. A . J . was an

enjoyable kid , but had numerous behavioral episodes. He was

very explosive and lacked a concern for safety. He had various

home issues going on. Additionally, A.J. was also a runner 2 / and

he had nine elopements 3 / from January to April 20 16 .

9. Pompano ' s protocol for if a student elope s was that

administration w as notified; the elopement was communicated over

the school walkie - talkie system to notify staff to be aware to

look out for the student; once the student was located , the

locator was to keep eyes on the student ; and typically a

separate individual went af ter the student while the other

watche d . Safety is always the priority in any elopement .

10. Faison was trained in the elopement protocol and was

familiar with its process. While at Pompano, Faison never had

any difficulty implementing or dealing with e lopement protocols .

11. On April 18, 2017, Faison reported to work late. Upon

her arrival , Hunt had written the morning activities on the

board and was instructing her classroom. Soon thereafter , Popov

arrived and Faison took her class out to the play ground . Popov

assisted Faison taking the students outside , but she only

remained about five minutes and then left Faison alone with the

students .

12. When no one came out to assist Faison with the

students on the playground, she decided to take the stud ents

back inside. At the time , A.J. was playing with sticks.

13. Faison instructed A.J. to put the sticks down because

he could not bring them inside . She encouraged him to put them

under the bench to retrieve and play with later. A.J. refused

to put t he sticks down and wanted to bring them inside.

14. Faison told A.J. to walk with her and he did.

15. Faison walked the students inside from off the

playground headed to her classroom and ran into Pop ov. Faison

had Pop ov walk the kids the remainder of t he way into Faison ' s

classroom so that Faison could deal with A.J. and the sticks.

16. Faison had been trained in Professional Crisis

Management ( " PCM " ) . S he evaluated the situation with A.J. and

she determined that the best behavioral technique and de -

e scalation strategy to get A.J. to comply and put the sticks

down, was to ask Felix t o assist with A.J. Felix had a good

relationship with A.J. P reviously , A.J. had responded well to

Felix and Felix had been able to calm A.J. down.

17. Faison did not wan t A.J. to hurt anyone with the

sticks.

18. Faison went to the TAB room 4 / where Felix was assigned.

A.J. still had the sticks and was behind Faison in the hallway

when she approached Felix ' s classroom . 5 / Faison opened the door

to the TAB room and observ ed that Felix had several students in

his room that he was supervising when Faison arrived and that

Felix was the only adult present .

19. Faison stood in the doorway and explained to Felix

that A.J. was not listening to her . S he wanted to see if Felix

co uld assist her and get him to come inside the classroom

without the sticks . Faison requested that Felix help her out

and speak to A.J. Faison held the conversation with Felix at the

TAB room door with her body half way in the door and Felix

standing in the doorway on the TAB room side. When Faison

turned around to address A.J. in the hallway, he was no t there.

20. Felix never saw A.J. in the hallway.

21. When Faison discovered A.J. was no longer in the

hallway, she thought A.J. was outside of Felix ' s cl assroom and

she made a reasonable request that Felix call him in through the

side door of the TAB classroom .

22. Felix did not indicate to Faison that he either agreed

to or refused to assist with or go after A.J.

23. Faison left the TAB room believin g that Felix was

going to get A.J ., which was a mistake because Felix did not

follow up with A.J. , unbeknown st to Faison. Faison ' s actions of

not following up and believing Felix had followed up with A.J.

were an isolated incident of misjudgment. After t heir

discussion, Faison returned to her classroom .

24. Later that morning , Pompano 's s ecretary put out an

elopement c all on the Pompano walkie - talkie system .

25. Faison did not receive the call because she did not

have a walkie - talkie on April 18, 20 1 6 .

26. Feli x heard the elopement call and walked out side of

the door towards the parking lot and emerged near the entrance

of the school. There , Felix saw A.J. with a stick by the school

marquee near the outer boundary of the school on the far end of

the school property.

27. Hunt also heard the elopement call on the walkie -

talkie and went outside to follow the Pompano elopement

protocol .

28. Feli x and Hunt worked together. Felix went to the

left and Hunt went to the right to encircle A.J. When A. J .

noticed them , he took off running toward 13 th Avenue. Hunt and

Felix caught A.J. approximately a block away from the school at

the intersection of Northeast 8 th Street and Northeast 13 th Avenue

near the baseball field .

29. Following elopement protoco l , Felix and Hunt let the

administration know by walkie - talk i e that they had caught up to

A.J. The resource officer arrived and put A.J. in the patrol

car because A.J. was combative . Principal La rson also appeared

at the scene to check and see if everyth ing was fine.

30. Afterwards , Larson discussed A.J. ' s elopement with

Feli x and decided he needed to follow up with Faison to

determine what happened with A.J.

31. When A.J. was returned to campus, he w ent to the TAB

room to cool down and to determine wh y he eloped .

32. Faison was not aware that A.J. had eloped. She was

taking her students to lunch alone , 6 / midway through the hallway

about to lead t he kids into the cafeteria , when Larson caught up

with her and made the reasonable request that she come to him to

have a discuss ion. He wanted to discuss the A.J. incident .

Faison told Larson no when he told her to step aside and talk

with him. Larson address ed Faison twice more and request ed that

she come to him. Faison refused to approach or talk to La rson.

The third time Larson requested that Faison come to him , he

informed her that she was being insubordinat e . Faison felt she

should not have left the kids and responded by telling Larson

" I ' ve been insubordinate all year. " She finished wa lking the

k ids to the cafeteria following Larson ' s instructions .

33. Browa r d County School Board ' s Police Special

Investigative Unit and Broward Sheriff ' s Child Protective

Investigations Services investigated A.J. ' s April 18, 2016, off -

campus elopement. Onagoruwa investigated the incident within

24 hours , including interviewing A.J . and closed her case as

non - substantiated because no physical harm occurred to A.J.

34. While at Pompano, Faison ' s previous discipline

included : a summary memo dated May 2, 2014 , regar ding IEP

deadlines ; a second summary memo for failure to complete IEPs on

time dated May 2, 2015; a disciplinary memo dated October 27,

2015, for failure to adhere to IEP deadlines and verbal

reprimand of November 3, 2015 ; a February 1, 2016 , written

repri mand following a pre - disc i plinary hearing meeting for

failure to submit lesson plans a nd a comprehensive behavior

pla n; and a second written reprimand dated March 16, 2016, for

failing to complete third grade portfolios and insubordinate

behavior of hangin g up the phone on Larson and refusing to meet

with him in his office .

35. The March 16, 2016 , written r eprimand specifically

warned Faison about insubordination and stated:

[Y] ou received notification regarding your

insubordinate behavior on February 22, 2016,

when you hung up the pone on me after I

asked you to come to my office for a meeting

and on March 2, 2016 for refusing to meet

with me for non - disciplinary reasons .

* * *

[ Y ] our gross insubordination [is] a serious

breach of conduct that c annot be tolerated.

Therefore, I am issuing you a written

reprimand that is consistent with School

Board Policy 4.9.

Please be advised that any further failure

on your part to perform to the standards

established for the effective and productive

performan ce of your job duties as a teacher

will result in further disciplinary action,

up to and including termination of your

employment.

36. Petitioner ultimately filed charge s against Faison by

Administrative Complaint dated October 11, 2017, that included

ch arges of misconduct in office, incompetency, gross

insubordination, willful neglect of duty, and violation of

School Board Policy 4008 . On November 7, 2017, the School Board

took action to suspend Respondent for 10 days without pay .

Respondent c ontested the reasons for suspension.

CONC LUSIONS OF LAW

37. DOAH has jurisdiction over the subject matter of this

proceeding and t he parties thereto pursuant to s ections 120.569

and 120.57(1 ) , Florida Statutes (201 8 ) .

38. Section 10 12 .33(6)(a), Florida Statutes, provides that

the teacher " may be suspended or dismissed at any time during

the term of the contract, " but only " for just cause as provided

in paragraph (1)(a) " of the statute.

39. The burden of proof in this proceeding is on the

School Board to prove by the preponderance of the evidence that

just cause exists to terminate the employment of Faison .

McNeil l v . Pinellas Cnty. Sch. Bd. 678 So. 2d 476 , 477 (Fla. 2d

DCA 1996) ( " The School Board bears the burden of proving by a

preponderance of the evidence, ea ch element of the charged

offense which may warrant dismissal. " ) Allen v. Sch. B d . of

Dade C nty . , 571 So. 2d 568 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990); Dileo v. Sch. B d .

of Dade C nty . , 569 So. 2d 883 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990).

" Preponderance of the evidence " is evidence that more likely

than not tends to prove the proposition set forth by the

proponent. Gross v. Lyons , 763 So. 2d 276 , 280 n.l (Fla. 2000).

40. This is a de novo proceeding for the purpose of

formulating agency action, and not to determine whether the

School Board ' s decision was correct at the time that it made the

decision. The findings of fact " shall be based exclusively on

the evidence of record and on matters officially recognized. "

§ 120.57(1)(j) and (k), Fla. Stat.

41. In the Administrative Complaint filed against

Respondent , Petitioner alleges just cause exists to suspend

Respondent and charge s her with the following five counts:

1) misconduct in office , 2) incompetency , 3) gross

insubordination , 4 ) willful neglect of duty , and 5 ) violation of

School Board Policy 4008. 7 /

42. Section 1012.33 defines just cause and provides in

relevant part :

(1)(a) Each person employed as a member of

the instructional staff in any district

school system shall be properly certified

pursuant to s. 1012.56 or s. 1012.57 or

employed pursuant to s. 1012.39 and shall be

entitled to and shall receive a written

contract as specified in this section. All

such contracts, except continuing contracts

as specified in subsection (4), shall

contain provisions for dismissal during the

term of the contract only for just cause.

Just cause includes, but is not limited to,

the following instan ces, as defined by rule

of the State Board of Education:

immorality, misconduct in office,

incompetency, gross insubordination, willful

neglect of duty, or being convicted or found

guilty of, or entering a plea of guilty to,

regardless of adjudication of guilt, any

crime involving moral turpitude.

* * *

(4)(c) Any member of the district

administrative or supervisory staff and any

member of the instructional staff, including

any school principal, who is under

continuing contract may be suspended o r

dismissed at any time during the school

year; however, the charges against him or

her must be based on immorality, misconduct

in office, incompetency, gross

insubordination, willful neglect of duty,

drunkenness, or being convicted or found

guilty of, or entering a plea of guilty to,

regardless of adjudication of guilt, any

crime involving moral turpitude, as these

terms are defined by rule of the State Board

of Education. Whenever such charges are

made against an employee of the district

school board, th e district school board may

suspend such person without pay; but, if the

charges are not sustained, he or she shall

be immediately reinstated, and his or her

back salary shall be paid. In cases of

suspension by the district school board or

by the district school superintendent, the

district school board shall determine upon

the evidence submitted whether the charges

have been sustained and, if the charges are

sustained, shall determine either to dismiss

the employee or fix the terms under which he

or she m ay be reinstated. If such charges

are sustained by a majority vote of the full

membership of the district school board and

the employee is discharged, his or her

contract of employment shall be canceled.

Any decision adverse to the employee may be

appeal ed by the employee pursuant to s.

120.68 , provided the appeal is filed within

30 days after the decision o f the district

school board.

43. Florida Administrative Code Rule 6A - 5.056 is entitled ,

" Criteria for Suspension and Dismissal , " and it provides the

basis for the charges of misconduct in office , incompetency,

gross insubordination and willful neglect of duty.

I. Misconduct in Office

44. Rule 6A - 5.056 (2) defines the term " misconduct in

office " and provides in relevant part:

(2) " Misconduct in Office " means one or

more of the following:

(a) A violation of the Code of Ethics of

the Education Professio n in Florida as

adopted in Rule 6A - 10.080, F.A.C.;

(b) A violation of the Principles of

Professional Conduct for the Education

Profession in Florida as adopted in Rule 6A -

10.081, F.A.C.;

(c) A violation of the adopted school board

rules;

(d) Behavior that disrupts the student ' s

learning environment; or

(e) Behavior that reduces the teacher ' s

ability or his or her colleagues ' ability to

effectively perform duties.

45. In prosecuting misconduct in off ice, Petitioner relies

on Florida Administrative Code R ule 6 A - 10.080, which sets forth

the Code of Ethics of the Education Profession in Florida. Rule

6A - 10.080 was repealed on March 23, 2016, prior to the

allegations in this matter. Therefore, it is not applicable in

the instant case.

46. Petitioner' s assertion in its Proposed Recommended

Order that Faison committed misconduct in office because she

failed to comply with the Principles of Professional Conduct for

the Education Profession in Florida is not persuasive. R ule 6A -

10.081(2)(a)1 . , provides i n relevant part:

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.

47. The evidence taken as a whole fails to demonstrate

that Faison neglected A.J., which resulted in A.J. being left

unsupervised resulting in an unsafe condition for A.J. Instead,

the evidence shows that Faison utilized reasonable effort to

protect A.J. and other students from the sticks by trying to get

Felix to assist her with A.J. S he thought her actions were the

best behavioral technique and de - escalation strategy with A.J. ,

when he refused to put the sticks down. Faison escorted A.J. to

the TAB room to get assistance from Felix, with whom A.J. had a

r apport .

48. The record further shows that Faison had never had an

elopement problem previous to A.J. ' s April 18, 2016, elopement

and A.J. was a repetitive runner who had eloped at least nine

times between January and April 2016. As no one is perfect,

Faison made a mistake assu ming that Felix was going to get A.J. ,

when she returned to her classroom and did not follow up after

Felix failed to confirm or refuse concretely that he was going

to get A.J. Faison ' s isolated incident of misjudgment is not a

violation of rule 6A - 10.081 (2)(a)1.

49. It is unspeakable when a nine - year - old ' s safety is

placed in jeopardy because A.J . leaves the school campus during

the school day . Petitioner clearly defined in t he record the

protocol for Po m pano elopements , which provides a process to

help keep the students safe. At hearing, Faison admitted that

she knew the elopement protocol . However, the record is void of

any evidence show ing that the elopement protocol w as an adopted

school board rule. Accordingly, even if Faison violated the

protoco l , rule 6A - 5.056(c) is not violat ed because the protocol

was not demonstrated to be an adopted rule.

50. Additionally, Faison did not vi olate rule 6A -

5.056 (2) (d) because A.J. was not outside of his learning

environment during the incident from his time o n the playground

to the end of his elopement. The record also lacks credible

competent evidence that Faison ' s behavior reduced her ability or

her colleagues ' ability to effectively perform duties. Hence,

Respondent is not guilty of rule 6A - 5.056 (2) (e).

5 1. Therefore, Petitioner has not proven that Faison

engaged in misconduct in office.

II. Incompetency

52. Rule 6A - 5.056(3) defines " incompetency " and provides

in relevant part :

(3) " Incompetency " means the inability,

failure or lack of fitness to disc harge the

required duty as a result of inefficiency or

incapacity.

(a) " Inefficiency " means one or more of the

following:

1. Failure to perform duties prescribed by

law;

2. Failure to communicate appropriately

with and relate to students;

3. Failure to communicate appropriately

with and relate to colleagues,

administrators, subordinates, or parents;

4. Disorganization of his or her classroom

to such an extent that the health, safety or

welfare of the students is diminished; or

5. Excessive absenc es or tardiness.

53. Petitioner ' s assertion in its Proposed Recommended

Order that Faison is incompetent because she did not " diffuse

the situation with A.J. and keep track of him [which] evinces a

lack of classroom management and failure to be able to

c ommunicate appropriately and relate to students despite her PCM

training " is not persuasive. The record is clear that Faison

utilized her PCM training and planned a de - escalation strategy

for A.J. that happened not to work . Additionally, A.J. was an

EBD student that was unpredictable , explosive , had heighted

emotions, and lacked concern for safety . Moreover , A.J. had an

extensive running and elopement history. This April 18, 201 6 ,

incident of A.J. running away from Faison, which the Broward

Sherriff ' s C hild Protectiv e Investigations Services closed as

non - substantiated , does not elevate to incompetence.

Accordingly, Respondent did not violate rule 6A - 5.056(3).

III. Gross Insubordination and Willful Neglect of Duty

54. Rule 6A - 5.056(4) defines " gross in subordination " and

rule 6A - 5.056(5) defines " willful neglect of duty , " which

provide in relevant part:

( 4) " Gross insubordination " means the

intentional refusal to obey a direct order,

reasonable in nature, and given by and with

proper authority; misfeasa nce, or

malfeasance as to involve failure in the

performance of the required duties.

(5) " Willful neglect of duty " means

intentional or reckless failure to carry out

required duties.

55. Petitioner demonstrated that Faison ' s actions of

failing to obey a direct order and step over to the side and

speak with her supervisor, Larson , after being asked three times

is an intentional refusal or gross insubordination.

Respondent ' s actions also demonstrated a failure to carry out

her duties to follow the instru ctions of her supervisor and were

a willful neglect of duty . However, Petitioner never alleges

the specific conduct with Larson in the Administrative

Complaint. For the undersigned to find a violation when no

facts were alleged would be a violation of du e process. Wood v.

Dep't of Trans. 325 So. 2d. 25 (Fla. 4th DCA 1976). Given the

deficiencies in the Administrative Complaint, rule s 6A - 5.056(4)

and (5) charges mandate dismissal.

IV. School Board Policy 4008 (B)

56. School Board Policy 4008(B) require s all employees who

have been issued contracts to comply with the provisions of the

Florida School Code, State Board Regulations, and regulations

and policies of the Board and provides in relevant part:

B. DUTIES OF INSTRUCTIONA L PERSONNEL

Th e member s o f instructiona l staf f shal l

perfor m th e followin g functions:

1. Compl y wit h th e Cod e o f Ethic s an d th e

Principle s o f Professiona l Conduc t of th e

Educatio n Professio n i n Florida.

* * *

3. Infus e i n th e classroom , th e District ' s

adopte d Characte r Educatio n Trait s of

Respect, Honesty, Kindness , Self - control ,

Tolerance , Cooperation, Responsibilit y an d

Citizenship.

* * *

8. Confor m t o al l rule s an d regulation s tha t

ma y b e prescribe d b y th e Stat e Board an d b y

th e Schoo l Board.

57. Fai son ' s charges are n ot sustained under Policy

4008(B ) 1 because the aforementioned paragraphs 45 and 46 already

established Petitioner did not meet it s burden to prove Faison

either violated the C ode of Ethics or Principles of Professional

Conduct of Educati on Profession in Florida . Additionally, the

incident with A.J. did not take place in the classroom and so

Faison did not violate Policy 4008(B)3 . Furthermore, no

specific rule has been shown to be violated pursuant to Policy

4008(B)8.

58. Based on the f indings of fact herein, the School Board

has failed to prove that Respondent committed the acts alleged

in the Administrative Complaint as the factual basis justifying

a 10 - day suspension without pay.

RECOMMENDATION

Upon consideration of the Findings of Fact and the

C onclusions of L aw reached, it is

RECOMMENDED t hat the Broward County School Board enter a

final order rescinding the 10 - day suspension with back pay.

DONE AND ENTERED this 6 th day of July , 201 8 , in

Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida.

S

JUNE C. MCKINNEY

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 wit h the Clerk of the

Division of Administrative Hearings

this 6 th day of July , 201 8 .

ENDNOTES

1/ EBD students have heightened emotions and often times have

extreme outbursts.

2/ A runner is a student that leaves the classroom or assigned

area in the s chool and runs away without permission or

supervision.

3/ Elopement is when a student leaves an assigned area, which

could be classroom, playground, or the school campus.

4/ The TAB room is the classroom students go to cool off that

have been disrupted in their classrooms. It serves as a time

out location.

5/ The undersigned is persuaded by RespondentÓs credible

testimony that A.J. walked in the building with Faison and was

not left outside unsupervised.

6/ Faison ' s testimony that she was escorting her students to the

cafeteria alone is found to be credible.

7/ Petitioner failed to identify what material facts correlated

with each charge in the Administrative Complaint. Alleging

" Respondent ' s actions " constitute a violation is vague and does

not serve as an appropriate notice for the defense.

COPIES FURNISHED :

Barbara Joanne Myrick, Esquire

School Board of Broward County

600 Southeast Third Avenue , Eleventh Floor

Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301

(eServed)

Tria Lawton - Russell, Esquire

School Boa rd of Broward County

600 Southeast Thi rd Avenue , Eleventh Floor

Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301

(eServed)

Robert F. McKee, Esquire

Robert F. McKee, P.A.

Post Office Box 75638

Tampa, Florida 33675

(eServed)

Matthew Mears, General Counsel

Department of E ducation

Turlington Building, Suite 1244

325 West Gaines Street

Tallahassee, Florida 32399 - 0400

(eServed)

Pam Stewart , Commissioner of Education

Department of Education

Turlington Building, Suite 1514

325 West Gaines Street

Tallahassee, Florida 32399 - 0400

(eServed)

Robert Runcie, Superintendent

Broward County School Board

600 Southeast Third Avenue , Tenth Floor

Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301 - 3125

NOTICE OF RIGHT TO SUBMIT EXCEPTIONS

All parties have the right to submit written exceptions within

1 5 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.