School Board Votes to Go With Superintendent's Recommendation to Not Change Former District Employee's Rehire Status

Posted Wednesday, February 10, 2016 12:00 am

Jackson Falconer

This story was last updated at 4:00 p.m. on February 10, 2016.

BRADENTON – After being out of the Manatee School District for more than 3 years, Debra Horne's request to regain her ability to reapply within the district was voted on at Tuesday's school board meeting. After a long discussion, board members voted 4-1 to go with Superintendent Diana Greene's recommendation against Horne's request, with Dave Miner dissenting.

The request stemmed from an agreement that Horne, who formally worked as an educator in the district as well as its Office of Professional Standards investigator, made with the district in late 2012. That binding agreement states that Horne could no longer apply for a position in the district, and the district would not pursue disciplinary action against her; Horne's request would amend the agreement to allow her to apply for a position in the district if she wishes, without guaranteeing employment.

That agreement came after allegations of sexually inappropriate behavior publicly surfaced about a former Manatee High School assistant coach against a former MHS female student. Horne was the district's OPS investigator when allegations were brought forward within the district; the allegations only came to the public after the parent of the alleged victim brought the allegations forward in a letter to the Sarasota Herald Tribune.

After the allegations were published, the Bradenton Police Department began an investigation, eventually handing the case over to the State Attorney's office, who ended up charging Frazier with numerous counts of battery. In addition, Horne, and three others–a former MHS principal and two then-assistant principals–were charged with failure to report child abuse.

At the school board's last meeting on January 26, Horne's attorney Scott Martin advised to the board that his client "had successfully defended all charges against her," in reference to the dropped charges and Florida DOE Commissioner Pam Stewart's letter to Horne, which said, "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."

In an interview with TBT last year, the assistant state attorney who worked on Horne's case said that the dropped charges upon her completion of a Pre-Trial Intervention program would "not at all" equate to "successfully defending oneself against the charge."

Several public comments precluded board discussion. School board candidate Linda Schaich said, "As [board attorney James] Dye pointed out, what is the benefit to the school district of releasing Debra Horne of her contract?" Schaich added: "Your job as a school board is to determine just this: Does Debra Horne have some skills that the school district cannot do without?"

During discussion, board member Bob Gause said that while he felt that Horne had been treated unfairly and that incorrect statements about her had been made during comments at the meeting, "at the end of the day, you've signed an agreement. At the end of the day, do I agree to change the agreement? As unfair as I think it was, I'm going to say no."

Board member Charlie Kennedy said, "Here I sit now, still at 7:45 still, conflicted" regarding the decision before the board. At the last board meeting, Kennedy referenced Stewart's letter as "new information having come to light," and, like Gause, alluded to what he felt was a flawed and inaccurate investigation concerning Horne; that in his opinion, "there were [former] people in this school district who were operating without any integrity whatsoever."

On Tuesday night, Kennedy said he also felt that Horne had been unfairly treated and soon added, "But what I keep coming back to is the superintendent's recommendation. And for me, I still believe the things I said. The ability to apply for a job is not too much to ask. But we have the issue of potential liability, not that I think you're a litigious person ... but going against the superintendent's recommendation ... I don't think that's happened yet with Dr. Greene."

John Colon, who mentioned that he was not on the board nor in the district at the time of the scandal or charges, said: "I can only look at the facts ... and what the DOE has written." He went on to say that the agreement "simply states, she will not reapply within the district. She can apply to Pinellas, Sarasota, Hillsborough, and as good employment practice, we will not say, she's not eligible for rehire. I know the superintendent well enough that she'll follow the letter of the law."

Colon later added that while Pam Stewart's letter found "no probable cause to pursue disciplinary action," the letter also advised that Stewart's decision not to pursue disciplinary action "pertains only to my duties as commissioner and does not affect any action deemed appropriate by any employee of school district."

Karen Carpenter, who was against the item at the last board meeting, also voted against it, while Miner, who originally brought up the item for discussion at the last meeting, voted for it.