Gaetz pushes school misconduct measure
State Sen. Don Gaetz hopes future legislation will prevent teachers found guilty of misconduct from being rehired in Florida schools.
“Regrettably, some unethical teachers move down the road,” said Gaetz, chairman of the Senate’s Education Committee. “Their misconduct occurs again and again.”
A Senate Education report released in November found a number of discrepancies in how Florida’s school districts handle allegations of teacher misconduct. Inconsistencies included schools that don’t perform background checks or share teacher misconduct history, said Gaetz, R-Niceville.
Often, investigations end with “quiet side deals allowing unethical teachers to resign to avoid bad publicity for the school district,” he said.
The Education Committee will discuss the report Wednesday. The report includes a series of recommendations Gaetz will ask the committee to support when legislation is drafted.
Northwest Florida schools have had their share of teachers embroiled in misconduct allegations.
Most recently, South Walton High School coach Mark Cozzie turned himself in May 2 on seven felony counts of lewd or lascivious conduct, one felony count of lewd or lascivious molestation and three misdemeanor counts of simple battery. Charges eventually were reduced to seven misdemeanor counts and one felony count.
In addition to South Walton, Cozzie has taught at Butler Elementary School, Freeport Middle School and Freeport High School. His pre-trial hearing is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Jan. 24 in DeFuniak Springs.
Local and state teachers’ union representatives are reviewing the recommendations to ensure they protect teachers’ rights, said Florida Education Association spokesman Mark Pedlow.
Bay County
Bay County has had its share of misconduct among teachers, as well. Twenty-six Bay teachers were listed on a Web site The Associated Press created after an investigation into disciplinary actions against teachers and the reasons behind them over a fiveyear period.
The investigation, which reviewed the behavior of 24,500 teachers, determined 2,570 of them either had their teaching credentials revoked, denied or surrendered following allegations of sexual misconduct.
Of the 26 Bay County teachers who made the list, five were found guilty of sexual offenses, four were cited for professional misconduct, nine for physical and verbal abuse, seven for drug and alcohol-related issues and one listed as “other.”
AP’s research revealed that eight of the Bay County teachers cited still were employed in the school district, and one was employed in another Florida school district.
Recently, a career specialist at A.D. Harris High School was removed from the school by the safety director to be tested for alcohol consumption. The teacher tested positive and was suspended for three days with pay and ordered by Superintendent James McCalister to complete an eight-week program for alcohol abuse.
The teacher, who previously was cited for misuse of a district credit card, cursing in front of employees and students, and sexually harassing female employees, returned to the classroom within a few days of the alcohol issue.
“It would be disturbing to me to know this behavior goes on and on,” said Jon McFatter, a member of the Bay District School Board.
He added that decisions about how to respond to misconduct are made by McCalister. School Board members have no knowledge of wrongdoing and no power to act unless McCalister recommends firing the teacher.