Employer Violated Rights

October 4, 2024

I emailed a complaint last month to the Head of the School Board of the District I was working for who forwarded my complaints to the Chief of Staff of the district.

Several days ago I received a copy of my personnel file, thanks to my union representative. I noticed there were several false statements and missing witness statements that would have exonerated me in situations in which I had received management directives from administrators during my time teaching with the school district. It was not just one administrator who did this--there were three. And it seemed to happen every time I either advocated for students or called out another staff member's unprofessional behavior.

The following is a copy of the letter I sent him outlining these discrepancies as well as detailing the discrimination I was put through by administration at the first school I taught at with the district. I have used initials for identifying names and information for the purposes of reposting it here:

October 3, 2024

I just received a copy of my personnel file from the school district several days ago and noticed there are several false statements as well as missing witness statements that would have exonerated me in incidents for which I received management directives during my time teaching at Orange County Public Schools. There are witnesses, some of whom are still employed at OCPS and others for whom I have contact information for if you wish to speak to them yourself.

The first incident at issue occurred during the 2020-21 school year. In December 2020, I was accused on not properly supervising my classroom or reporting an incident involving a student in my class who has autism that my paraprofessional at the time, DW, alleged to have seen masterbating in the back of the classroom during transition between fifth and sixth periods. This was when I had students both in my classroom and online as it was during COVID19 and I was having to get my in-class students on task and log in my online students, as I had two different classes that period so I had to send a link for both classes to log into.

Ms. W was new and ended up working for OCPS for less than a year, leaving before the school year was out. She went across the hall and reported this incident to the Behavior Tech, NT, who reported it to an administrator.

I was not told about this until I arrived at work the next morning when the student’s one-one-one paraprofessional, LJ, informed me that she had been summoned to the office at the end of the school day the previous day and told about it. She told me what Ms. W reported and that they would be suspending my student for ten days for this behavior. I was immediately concerned because this student had never been witnessed engaging in this behavior before and this type of behavior is a manifestation of his disability, so suspending a student for this behavior with his disability would be a violation of his rights. When I was later questioned about the incident by an administrator I told them all of this.

When I attended my meeting at Professional Standards I was informed Ms. W stated that the December incident was the second time she witnessed the student engage in this behavior. She claimed the first time she saw him do it was the week before Thanksgiving break. I pointed out that was impossible as the student was not at school the week before Thanksgiving break; he had been on vacation with his family in Hawaii (they can confirm this). I was then told it must have been some time before that. I was given a five year discipline in my record which I filed a grievance to overturn.

During the second step in the grievance process I mentioned that both Ms. J, the student’s one-on-one, and JR, a one-on-one paraprofessional for another student in my class, both stated I had not been in the classroom during the day of the first alleged incident and in their statements they did not mention me being in the classroom when the alleged incident took place. Dr. T.B-D, the principal at Wekiva High School at the time, stated they both said I was in the classroom at the time and “not everything they said was in their written statements.” When I repeated back to them what she had told me, they both denied ever saying that I had been there and Ms. J also wrote a letter stating I was not at school that day. While Ms. J no longer is employed with OCPS, I still have her contact information if you would like to question her yourself about this. I also have a copy of the letter she wrote, which is noticeably missing from my file.

At the end of the school year, my name was left off of the schedule for the next school year, while all of the other teachers in my unit were assigned to their same classes. When I asked about it, I was told I was being reassigned and not given an explanation. I later learned that Dr. D planned to move me to a severe autism classroom despite me being the senior returning IND teacher and the only returning IND teacher who had been with our returning seniors since their freshman year. Several of our students’ parents requested that I remain their children’s teacher and I ended up remaining in my same classroom, but this was not settled until several days before the school year began.

I had requested a seventh period to teach to earn extra income but was rejected. I was told it was not needed. But then they allowed one of our newly hired international teachers to teach a seventh period that year.

They put out a request that year for a volunteer to coach our school’s special Olympics team. I volunteered to do this for our students because I knew no one else at our school was interested. Dr. D responded that Mr. EF, the Assistant Principal overseeing ESE, would choose someone. About a week later they sent another email out asking for a volunteer. Again, I responded offering to volunteer. I received no response. Sometime later they sent a third email seeking a volunteer. I replied again. Again, no response. I later learned they chose a teacher from another school to coach our students. This teacher never followed up with our students’ parents so our school ended up not having a Special Olympics team that year.

I also had several of our parents request that I chaperone them for Grad Bash at Universal Studios that year. Our Senior Adviser, Mr. SF, who has since retired, told me that Dr. D approached him and told him she did not want me to be chaperoning the field trip. She gave no explanation for this.

Mr. F and other teachers and staff had approached me, telling me they believed I was being singled out and targeted by the administration.

I also applied to teach Extended School Year that summer. I was the senior teacher in our unit to apply for a position and the only Orange County Schools employee to apply, as the rest of the applicants were international hires. I was turned down for a position over the new, internationally hired teachers and given no explanation for this.

I was hired for a position at G Middle School the next school year after the cutoff and required Dr. D’s permission to release me. She told me she needed to first hire two new teachers before she could release me.

She had given one of her friends who had been working in the office the prior year the position of Behavior Specialist the 2021-22 school year, but for some reason this person, JG, was listed as a Tier One teacher. A week and a half into the school year I was looking for someone to escort one of my students to an elective class he had across the campus and she told me, “Ms. H wants him to go unescorted.” I told her his IEP required him to be supervised at all times. Furthermore, I was in frequent contact with this student’s mother and there were reasons this student required constant supervision. I later found out she allowed him to walk to class unsupervised despite what I had told her and reported this to Mr. F. The next day, I was told they were releasing me to go to G Middle School despite not having hired anyone to fill the two teaching positions I was told needed to be filled before I could be released.

A few months after I started at G Middle School the Assistant Principal who hired me left and was replaced by TH. I had to take the class to administer the FSAA to my students. I had taken this course when I first started working for OCPS and was able to pass the class easily. In January, 2019, I was diagnosed with a Grade 2 Meningioma that was 7.5 cm and pushing against my brain. I had to go on FMLA in February 2019 to have a craniotomy to remove the meningioma followed by 60 rounds of radiation treatment. I have retaken the FSAA administration class three or four times since then and been unable to pass it again. I retook it when I was teaching at Glenridge and when I was unable to pass it once again I had to explain to Mr. H why I was unable to pass this class. I was in his office crying, explaining to him and Ms. B, the other Assistant Principal, how difficult it has been to have this disability where I am unable to do things now that I used to be able to do easily, that I struggle with short term memory, suffer focal awareness seizures, and I have only been comfortable teaching Access Points since my surgery as I have been successful with my students and they learn but I have not been able to pass the class to administer the FSAA. Despite explaining this, Mr. H penalized me on my evaluation that year for not being able to administer the state test to my students. A week before the school year began, he phoned me to inform me that they were switching me from teaching Access Points, the class I was hired to teach and had successfully been teaching students at OCPS for the past five years, to Learning Strategies, a class I had no experience teaching. I had seen on the OCPS careers website that G was hiring for an Autism teacher all summer, but I did not realize until then they were advertising my position.

Prior to the summer, on April 30, 2022, there was an incident where another teacher, NW, had hosted an Autism Awareness Event in the MPR and invited my class. One of my students did not want to attend and was very anxious about it. He kept asking me if he wanted to go back to class if I would take him. I relented and told him if after a couple of hours if he really wanted to come back to class I would bring him back. He was complaining the entire time in there and I felt because he was not enjoying himself and was complaining it would be better for everyone if I brought him back to the classroom. At lunchtime he wanted to go back in there just to get pizza (he knew they were ordering pizza for lunch) and bring it back to the classroom.

During sixth period, I taught a social personal class in which two students who were in general education classes came to me just for that class. The three students wanted to go to the MPR to see if there was any pizza left. When we arrived, Ms. W immediately began screaming at me, accusing me of going in and out all day. I could see my students becoming distressed at this and immediately took them out of the situation and brought them back to the classroom as Ms. Welcome’s program assistant, SL, attempted to get Ms. W to stop screaming and calm down. However, the documentation in my file states that I engaged in screaming at Ms. W which is not true. Noticeably, there is no witness statement from Ms. L nor my former program assistant, who also witnessed the incident, both of whom still work at G Middle School.

I was given a management directive a month later in which they stated I allowed a student with autism to go out into the Courtyard unsupervised. This is false. The student in question does not have autism. He was a general education student who was illiterate due to being homeschooled by abusive, neglectful parents for several years (who lost their rights due to the abuse and neglect). He was labeled as Specific Learning Disability so they could get him services to address his needs related to his inability to read. He only came to me for Social Personal class. He was in general education classes and was able to transition to classes and go to the bathroom by himself and run errands to the office for me. So, when he was upset after witnessing another teacher scream uncontrollably at me and needed a few minutes to get air and compose himself, I did not believe it was in violation of any rules.

Because of these false claims of them stating that I left a student with autism unsupervised, I am currently under investigation by the state board of education.

In February 2024, Ms. RM at CS Elementary School, claimed that I was not properly supervising my classroom when a student with autism pulled down his pants in class nor was I aware of it.

First of all, I was aware of this. I was left alone in a classroom with fifteen students with autism which is a violation of their IEPs. According to those students’ IEPs, I should have had a minimum of 3 paraprofessionals in the classroom with me at all times. I was oftentimes completely alone with 14 to 15 students; most of the time I only had one paraprofessional in the room. My students were either six-to-one; three-to-one; and one student was one-to-one. When I first started, I told Ms. M this and she told me I was wrong, that I was only entitled to one paraprofessional in my classroom. Based on my past of having retribution taken out on me whenever I attempted to challenge administrators, I was not going to challenge her on this.

On May 3, 2024, my student who was supposed to be assigned a one-on-one according to his IEP eloped to the front of the school and pulled down his pants when the Kona Ice truck was there and things were very chaotic as students get very excited when Kona Ice comes. It was myself and one other paraprofessional trying to help the students get their Kona Ice when this student slipped into the front of the school. Had Ms. M adhered to his IEP and provided his one-on-one as required this would not have happened. As a result of this, I had to go through yet another extremely stressful investigation which prevented me from getting another teaching job. They finally closed the investigation Unconfirmed September 16, 2024.

Due to that investigation, which would have never occurred had Ms. M not violated my student’s IEP, I have been unable to obtain another teaching job. I have lost my home, have gone through all my money, and have run out of unemployment. I’m having to resort to food banks and public assistance at this point.

There is a pervasive problem in OCPS. Because I have been willing to speak up for my students when I see things that are not right, I’ve had administrators take retribution on me and this is not right. I love teaching. I have at least a half dozen parents of former students who still contact me that have offered to speak up on my behalf.

Updated September 5, 2024

I found out from my union representative I was placed under investigation by my principal last year on May 16, 2024 but never informed and never given an opportunity to write a statement. Still have no idea about what I'm under investigation for and my union representative said he has never heard of that happening before. He believes my principal did it to get rid of me because she knows I have evidence she committed fraud with federal funds that were supposed to be spent on student services for students with IEPs--students with disabilities. That is highly illegal and could result in prison for her if she is caught and found guilty.

But my union seems to be dragging their feet on getting my records and finding out what this is all about and it's preventing me from getting another job and a place to live. Right now I have a hotel room that my family paid for until Wednesday, September 11, but they can no longer afford to help me after that. And no other school district will hire me as long as there is an open investigation against me. I just don't know what to do.

Any help anyone can provide would be very much appreciated. Thank you. If anyone has a job or is an attorney in the Florida area and can help, that would be great as well as I can't find an attorney who is willing to represent me on contingency. The attorneys I have spoken to have said it would cost around $100K to pursue this through the courts.

Updated August 22, 2024:

I returned to work on December 1, 2024 when my neurologist finally completed my accommodation paperwork. My school district was supposed to place me in a small self contained classroom. I had been teaching Middle and High School alternative curriculum to students with autism/intellectual disabilities and cognitive disabilities since I had been with the district. They ended up placing me in an elementary school, despite me having no experience teaching elementary, in an autism classroom with 15 students which didn't comply with my accommodations. Recommended guidelines state there should be no more than 6 to 8 students in a self contained classroom.

I had students who were physically aggressive and who would elope from the classroom. My principal violated student IEPs by not properly staffing my classroom with the proper number of paraprofessionals, and had different paraprofessionals each week as she went through temporary agencies to staff my room instead of hiring permanent employees. My students were on general curriculum that I was not familiar with and I was given no training in this curriculum. In addition, my students were all two to three years behind their same grade peers academically.

I seemed to annoy my principal by pointing out that according to student IEPs, we were supposed to legally have a one-on-one paraprofessional for one of the students which she refused to provide, in addition to two other paraprofessionals. She claimed I was only entitled to one paraprofessional and assigned me the least experienced paraprofessional in the school.

Despite earning a Highly Effective rating on my Evaluation the previous year, the Assistant Principal informed me that the Principal told her not to give me anything higher than a beginning on my Evaluation which she used as an excuse not to reappoint me. She was also constantly lying to my students' parents and I refused to back up her lies. My students' parents trust me and I would never violate their trust. As a teacher, I believe it's my job to advocate and fight for my students which has put me on the wrong side of a few administrators.

In May, my student who was legally supposed to have a one-on-one according to his IEP eloped during a very chaotic time on the playground which placed me under investigation. Because my principal had not provided the supports required in his IEP, the investigation has resulted in unconfirmed.

This is making it impossible for me to get another teaching job and as I have a masters degree in Special Education and I am 55 years old I don't know what else I can do. I am frustrated with my union representative's lack of urgency in assisting me in this. I currently have a complaint filed with the EEOC and I cannot find a lawyer to take my case on contingency. I am broke now and a few days away from being homeless.

I know there are a lot of important causes to give to right now. I would not have this gofundme if I was not in a desperate state. I have evidence that my principal committed fraud with the federal funds that were supposed to be spent on students with disabilities that have IEPs and the money was not used on them. I need help in order to not just get an attorney and a place to live, but hold my former principal and the school district accountable so my students get the services they're entitled to and I can make sure that the funds that were supposed to be spent towards their services is accounted for.

Thank you.

Hi. I am a teacher who taught students both online and in my classroom at the same time throughout the COVID19 pandemic despite having a disability caused from having a large Grade 2 meningioma removed via craniotomy in 2019 that was life threatening followed by radiation treatment. I have been a special education teacher for over ten years, which I loved. I have been very popular with both my students and my students' parents. In the 2020-21 school year, my school got new administrators, who treated my special kids as less than the general education students. I found myself having to fight for both their rights and my own. After 2 years of dealing with harassment and discrimination I switched schools. At first things were great at my new school, but shortly after I arrived the assistant principal who hired me left and was replaced by another who put expectations on me that I was not able to meet due to my own disabilities. I had explained to him about the disabilities I had developed as a result of my meningioma and surgery but he did not seem to care, despite my students making learning gains, their parents being very pleased with my work with their kids and my students loving being in my class. None of that mattered.

A week before the school year started this year I was informed they were changing my teaching assignment to a class with students who were in general education classes and many of them had behavior problems. In addition, where I had been hired to teach small classes of students with intellectual, cognitive disabilities and autism and had a paraprofessional in the room at all times, I would have larger classes and no assistance in the classroom.

I kept telling my administrator that due to my disability it was too much for me. I went from having the same 8 to 10 students in my classroom all day to 90+ students spread out over 6 classes with different accommodations I was responsible for remembering (and part of my disability is short term memory issues). Despite telling him repeatedly I was unable to do this, he refused to place me back into the position I was hired to teach. I learned they had my position advertised during the summer and had hired someone else to teach my position.

Two weeks into the school year I had a breakdown due to being so overwhelmed and unable to cope. It took my neurologist over TWO MONTHS to fill out paperwork for accommodations so my district will be required to give me a position that I can teach, but they are giving me the runaround and it looks like I will need to get an attorney. The problem is I have not worked in over two months, my doctor bills for me and my two kids have piled up, I still haven't been approved for state benefits--no food stamps or anything--and my credit cards are maxed out, and every attorney I've spoken to wants money upfront before they will take my case.

I've put off starting a Go Fund Me because I hate begging for money especially when there are so many needy people out there but I'm desperate. Please, even if its a few bucks. I just need help.