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Board to hear case against principal

The trial of the suspended Powell Middle School principal begins Wednesday.

By ABHI RAGHUNATHAN
Published April 4, 2005

BROOKSVILLE - For much of this year, top Hernando school administrators have seen their time consumed by the need to deal with one man: Michael Ransaw, the suspended principal of Powell Middle School.

Wednesday, the School Board will preside over Ransaw's trial, a public spectacle that could stretch over three days. When School Board members finally decide whether to fire Ransaw, they will hand down a judgment that district administrators and teachers as well as hundreds of parents and students at Powell have been waiting on since November.

Superintendent Wendy Tellone already has made her position on Ransaw clear. She wants to fire him. She completed an investigation in January that detailed how Ransaw lied to get his job in Hernando, misled officials about his background and deleted documents and files, including public records, after learning of the district's plans to look into his conduct.

"I am disappointed at how unprofessionally you have handled this entire issue by providing false information, half-truths and accusations directed at others," wrote Tellone in a letter describing her reasoning to Ransaw.

Tellone suspended Ransaw on Nov. 19 after learning of a state investigation that found he pawned a district laptop while working as an assistant principal at Deerfield Beach Middle School in Broward County.

The state investigation followed an earlier inquiry by Broward authorities and largely mirrored their conclusions. State authorities still could levy a range of disciplinary penalties on Ransaw.

After learning of what Ransaw had done, Broward officials suspended him without pay for 10 days and demoted him to teacher status. He left that district soon after and landed a job in Hernando. Hernando officials say Ransaw and his references never disclosed the laptop incident.

Court and school district records show that Ransaw faced a host of personal and financial problems around the time he pawned the laptop, including having a car repossessed for failure to make payments and having his paycheck garnisheed for child support.

According to personnel files and interviews, Ransaw was hand-picked by Tellone to run Powell Middle in 2003. She stood by him even after School Board member Gail David raised questions about his management style and a slew of teachers resigned, calling him a hard-charging administrator who was too aggressive.

Still, other parents and teachers praised Ransaw's emphasis on discipline. They have stood by him and spoken on his behalf at several School Board meetings, blasting board members and Tellone for abandoning a principal they admire.

In recent speeches, Willie Jones, Ransaw's attorney, said his client has been treated unfairly by the school district. Jones also has said that other district employees who have committed offenses have received milder disciplinary penalties than his client.

Jones has cited Doug Latta, a teacher who was disciplined for harassing a female co-worker at Deltona Elementary but not fired. The School Board is being sued by a teacher for failing to protect her from sexual harassment by Latta and then retaliating against her.

Jones could not be reached this week for an interview.

In this school year, the School Board already has ruled against two key motions filed by Jones. On Dec. 14, it ruled to suspend Ransaw without pay. And on Feb. 24, it rejected a request by Jones to have Ransaw reinstated as principal of Powell Middle.

Jones will have a chance to make his case again before the School Board on Wednesday morning. Ransaw's hearing is set to begin at 9 a.m and last until 9:30 that night, with breaks for lunch and dinner. The School Board also is scheduled to meet between 5:30 and 10:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday evenings, if necessary. The hearing is open to the public.

School Board attorney Karen Gaffney will be leading the district's prosecution of Ransaw. Attorney W. Reynolds Allen has been retained by board members as their legal adviser in the matter.

At the end of the hearing, the board is expected to vote and finally hand down its decision.

--Abhi Raghunathan can be reached at araghunathan@sptimes.com or 352 848-1431.

[Last modified April 4, 2005, 01:26:10]