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Officials suspend high school counselor
By MATTHEW WAITE, Times Staff Writer
A J.W. Mitchell High School counselor has been suspended after a male student reported "inappropriate behavior" last week to school officials, superintendent John Long said Monday. Vicki Bucher, 34, is on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, Long said. Bucher is a behavioral specialist, dealing with students who have misbehaved in school. Jim Davis, the school district's director of employee relations, said he will tell Bucher today that, in accordance with district rules, administrators will recommend to the School Board that she be suspended without pay at the next School Board meeting on April 1. School officials would not elaborate on the reasons Bucher was suspended, and calls to Bucher for comment were not returned. Long said that when school officials received the report from the student's mother on March 18, they called the Pasco County Sheriff's Office to investigate. Sheriff's spokesman Jon Powers on Monday would not acknowledge any investigation, as pending cases are not public record, according to Florida law. Long said school officials have been told by sheriff's investigators that they had "reason to be concerned." Davis said Bucher was suspended with pay on March 18, the same day the complaint was made against her and the complaint was referred to the Sheriff's Office. Davis said school officials were notified Friday that deputies were turning the investigation over to the State Attorney's Office. Davis said the School Board will be asked April 1 to suspend Bucher without pay until the allegations are settled. No signs of trouble appear in Bucher's personnel file, kept at school district offices in Land O'Lakes. Bucher, who has a master's degree in psychology, started at Dade City's James Irvin Education Center in 1999 and moved to Mitchell High in August 2000. On evaluations from Mitchell written at the end of the 2001 school year, Bucher got the highest ratings. In the evaluations, principal Tina Tiede called her a "valued member of staff." Assistant principal Garry Walthall called her an "extremely dedicated professional." On her school district application in 1999, Bucher stressed that a teacher needs more than strictness to handle students. "I feel if you come across as demanding and too strong, students will fear or rebel against that authority," she wrote on the application. -- Staff writers Michele Miller, James Thorner and Cary Davis contributed to this report.
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