Physical education teacher to be suspended

The teacher, who worked with special education students, was almost fired, but attorneys determined they would have trouble proving all allegations of mistreatment.

By KELLY RYAN GILMER, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published January 24, 2002

LARGO -- A veteran physical education teacher accused of using inappropriate discipline with special education students will be suspended for 15 days.

Superintendent Howard Hinesley originally had moved to fire Susan M. Huber, a teacher at Paul B. Stephens Exceptional Student Education Center. Huber was accused of pulling students' hair, tugging their ears, holding their heads underwater and throwing balls at them.

After a district investigation into Huber's conduct, attorneys determined they would have trouble proving all of the allegations.

That led to a signed agreement with Huber, who will not be allowed to return to Stephens. Instead, she will continue to be a physical education teacher but at a traditional high school.

As part of the agreement, she also will be suspended without pay for 15 days. She has been on unpaid suspension since August.

The agreement will be presented to the School Board on Tuesday night for final approval.

Huber has vehemently denied the allegations. On Wednesday, her attorney said she is eager to get back to work.

"She's really been a terrific teacher for a long time and has a tremendous amount of support," Mark Herdman said. Huber became a full-time physical education teacher in 1976 and began work at Stephens in 1980. The students at Stephens, ages 3 to 23, are trainable mentally handicapped, profoundly mentally handicapped or autistic. Their abilities vary widely, and some students are unable to describe how they have been treated.

Supervisors have consistently said that Huber meets or exceeds expectations. But a couple of times, her discipline techniques have been questioned.

In 1999, she received a verbal warning after a colleague saw her walking a student backward by pulling the student's hair. In April 2000, Huber was warned about using unnecessary force in placing a student in a wheelchair.

It was an incident on March 7 that prompted the recent investigation.

That day, Huber directed an activity in which she rolled a large ball to her students, who were supposed to push or kick it back. The activity teaches students to react to their environment.

A school volunteer reported that when students didn't respond, Huber threw the ball harder and laughed as some were hit or cried.

During the investigation, several Stephens employees reported that Huber had a pattern of inappropriate physical discipline. Others said they never witnessed misconduct. All agreed that the physical education department was tense and filled with personality conflicts.

For her part, Huber said in a November deposition that her teaching approach was misunderstood, that she was being playful with her students, not hurtful.

On holding students' heads underwater: "Only in playful situations, because I totally respect fear in the water."

On pulling students' hair: "You could be sitting in the assembly and one of the kids will grab your hair, and so you reach over and you grab their hair and you're just playing with them. It's like love."

She said she never pinched, slapped or twisted her students' arms. She said she never screamed at them. But she did acknowledge pulling a student's ear.

"I'm very hands-on with the kids," Huber said. "But it's all loving. It's nothing harmful."

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