Florida seeks sanctions against Pine View teacher that could cost her license

Last month, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier publicly accused a Pine View history teacher of labeling a student a “misogynist” over his political views, saying she should be fired if the allegation was true.

By the beginning of October, Sarasota County Schools had announced it was investigating the teacher, Liz Ballard, over the allegations.

Now, the Department of Education is pursuing disciplinary action against Ballard, alleging she discriminated against a student because of his political views, among other misconduct. The agency alleges she violated state policy and law — and has recommended “sanctions” against her that could range from a letter of reprimand to stripping her of her license.

In an Oct. 22 letter to Ballard that was reviewed by The Daily Sun and Suncoast Searchlight, Florida Education Commissioner Henry Mack alleged the 20-year teaching veteran had “rejected” a student’s political views and “encouraged” that student to discuss controversial topics against his parents’ wishes. He referred to the student only by the initials “M.M.”

The letter also reveals that the complaints extended to the student’s younger brother, who also attended Pine View, and alleges Ballard improperly discussed both students’ behavioral issues with other teachers. 

The family at the center of the complaints has direct ties to the DeSantis administration through the students’ grandfather, Lon Deckard, a Republican donor whom Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed to the State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota District Board of Trustees last year.

Reached by phone Monday evening, Ballard declined to comment. 

Neither Sarasota County Schools nor Mack’s office immediately returned a request for comment on the letter on Monday evening. 

Mack was appointed as commissioner after DeSantis recommended him for the job in July, saying that he would share the administration’s goals of “eliminating radical ideologies” from the classroom.

The state’s action is the latest development in a nearly two-year dispute between Sarasota County Schools and the parents of two Pine View students, who repeatedly complained about Ballard for more than a year after their older child left her class.

According to district reports, the conflict began after “M.M.” allegedly made inflammatory comments about abortion, women and social media influencer Andrew Tate, prompting Ballard to contact the parents and later email the student directly. The family continued pressing school officials even after the student was withdrawn from Ballard’s class.

Sarasota County Schools initially handled the complaints at the school level, but opened a formal human resources investigation after the parents threatened legal action. 

Investigators found no evidence that Ballard acted with ill intent in her handling of the initial incident, although they concluded that her actions could reasonably have been viewed by the parents as disproportionate.

Ballard received a three-day suspension without pay in August. 

In response to another complaint from the parents — who alleged Ballard falsely accused one of their sons of shouting into her classroom — the district proposed a five-day suspension, which the teachers union has contested. (That investigation did not find Ballard had knowingly provided false information to the district.)

In an interview with the district’s HR department, Pine View principal Stephen Covert told investigators the incidents in dispute “didn’t warrant a large response.” 

Now, however, some of Ballard’s interactions with the students are the subject of state disciplinary proceedings that could end her teaching career.

In his letter, Mack cited seven incidents over the past two school years in which he alleged Ballard violated Florida’s administrative code of conduct for educators. All of the allegations surround her interactions with the two brothers. 

The letter alleges Ballard discussed with students “controversial political topics,” including illegal immigration, abortion, domestic violence, slavery reparations and “modern divorce laws” — topics that were “outside” of the class curriculum. 

In his letter, Mack wrote that eighth-grade student “M.M.” had “engaged in a discussion” about immigration two years ago, but Ballard, Mack wrote, “shut down the class debate” after the student made comments she found offensive. 

According to the complaint, she has 21 days to dispute the complaint and request a formal hearing, negotiate a settlement, submit for an informal hearing or voluntarily surrender her license.

Alice Herman is a watchdog/investigative reporter for Suncoast Searchlight, and Chloe Nelson is a reporter for The Daily Sun. Email Alice at alice@suncoastsearchlight.org. Email Chloe at chloe.nelson@yoursun.com. This article first appeared on Suncoast Searchlight and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.