Jackson Falconer
This article was last updated on Jan. 27, 2015 at 12:13 p.m.
BRADENTON – A Tuesday school board discussion on possibly allowing Debra Horne to again apply within the district ended with an approved motion to vote on the issue during February's first meeting.
In October of 2013, Horne and the district entered into an agreement that she could no longer apply for a position in the district; in return, disciplinary action would not be taken for what the district at the time found to be a deliberately inefficient investigation by Horne into molestation allegations against former Manatee High School assistant football coach Rod Frazier. Those allegations were made while Horne was the district's Office of Professional Standards investigator.
In September of 2013, then-district OPS investigator Troy Pumphrey released the conclusion of an investigation into the scandal. Pumphrey's investigation found that Horne, while conducting her investigation, had "predetermined that Frazier was
innocent of the allegations as stated in the January 8, 2012, letter of complaint submitted to the OPS office by Principal Sauer."
Nearly one year ago, the school board voted, against the recommendation of then-Superintendent Rick Mills and school board attorney James Dye, to
reimburse Horne for legal fees accumulated after the state attorney gave her a felony charge of failing to report child abuse.
Scott Martin, Horne's attorney, said at Tuesday's meeting that she was only asking "for the ability to be treated like any other citizen in Manatee County."
"This is a matter of fairness," said Martin. Commenting on the decision of Florida Department of Education Commissioner to not revoke Horne's education certificate, Martin said, "The finding is that Mrs. Horne successfully defended all charges against her."
After she was charged, Horne was allowed to enter into a pre-trial intervention program, under the agreement that the state attorney would drop all charges if she successfully completed the PTI. She was neither acquitted nor found guilty during the process.
Last February, Assistant State Attorney Dawn Buff, who handled Horne's case,
told TBT that completion of a PTI program would "not at all" equate to "successfully defending oneself against the charge."
In her letter to Horne from August of 2015, Commissioner Stewart wrote: "After careful review and due consideration of the investigative findings, I have determined that there is no probable cause to pursue disciplinary action against your Florida Educator's Certificate."
Dye, speaking before board discussion on the item, said, "The only reason to amend the agreement is if it's considered a benefit to the school board."
Dye mentioned Martin's argument, made in a letter to the board, that allowing Horne to "heal" should be a factor in the board's decision. "The question for the school board is, Is healing necessary? Why is healing necessary? Is all healing necessary, or only partial healing necessary? What does healing consist of?" said the board attorney.
Board chair Karen Carpenter said she was concerned that revisiting Horne's case would be divisive instead of rehabilitating.
Board member Dave Miner, who had requested that the discussion be written onto the board's agenda for Tuesday, said, "The question isn't that we must do something. Doing the right thing isn't about doing what you must do; doing the right thing is about doing what you may do. We may do this." Miner later reiterated his statement.
Miner continued: "I put a lot of weight on what the DOE did. And the quote from Dye's report, 'The basis of her request is the finding of Pam Stewart ... of no probable cause to pursue a disciplinary action against Mrs. Horne's education certificate.' Is that to be ignored?" He later added, "I think many people would consider this a moral opportunity to do the right thing. To remove a stain (on Horne's reputation) that doesn't deserve to be there, based on what we now learn."
Miner's fellow board member Charlie Kennedy, agreeing, noted Miner's comment that "more information had come to light" when Stewart released her letter to Horne advising she would not be revoking her education certificate. "In my opinion, when a person has been treated unfairly, we should do what is right for that person," said Kennedy.
Kennedy later added: "In my opinion, there were people in this school district who were operating without any integrity whatsoever." He said that those people were no longer employed by the district and he would not name names, and that much of the district's investigation into the incident "was personality-driven, politically-driven and so forth."
Kennedy later alluded to Frazier's conduct while employed by the district: "Something very bad did happen at MHS. It was disgusting, and should have been nipped in the bud long ago."
Miner called for a vote on the matter immediately following discussion. Following Miner's motion, fellow board member John Colon said, "I'm going to reiterate the fact that I was told there would be no vote on this this evening ... so I think this is premature."
Board attorney Dye advised that such a vote would legally need the backing of a recommendation by the superintendent. Kennedy then requested that the vote not be made until such a recommendation can be written onto an agenda and the motion was amended as such. The amended motion passed 4-1, with Carpenter dissenting in opposition to amending Horne's contract in any vote.
The board's next meeting will be on February 9 at the district's administrative center, at 5:45 p.m.
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