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Schools

Principal's lawsuit dismissed - for now

A judge rules Michael Ransaw's case should be heard first by an administrative law judge.

By ABHI RAGHUNATHAN
Published September 14, 2005

BROOKSVILLE - A judge dismissed Michael Ransaw's lawsuit against School Board members and superintendent Wendy Tellone on Tuesday but gave the former principal time to gather more evidence to file another complaint.

Circuit Judge Daniel Merritt ruled that Ransaw and his attorney, Willie Jones, did not show why their case should be heard in civil court first rather than in front of an administrative law judge. Ransaw's lawsuit accused school district officials of treating him unfairly and not giving him due process when they removed him from his job as principal of Powell Middle School.

Attorneys for the School Board and Tellone argued that Ransaw had no grounds to sue for damages or allege lack of due process. They pointed out another technical problem with Ransaw's lawsuit and said his case should first be tried by the state Division of Administrative Hearings; an administrative law judge is scheduled to preside over his hearing in November.

"There is no case ... until he exhausts his administrative remedies," said attorney Lisa Augspurger, who represented the School Board in Tuesday's hearing.

But since Merritt dismissed Ransaw's lawsuit without prejudice, he also gave him a chance to put together another suit. Jones said Tuesday he had recently discovered more evidence of wrongdoing by school officials. Also, Merritt gave Jones the right to take depositions from top school officials, including Tellone.

Jones said after the ruling that he would begin getting depositions from "Tellone and her top lieutenants" and use the information in filing another lawsuit.

School Board attorney Paul Carland called the judge's decision to dismiss the case "appropriate."

The brief hearing at the courthouse was a stark contrast of legal styles. Attorneys for the School Board cited previous case law and court precedents while making their arguments. On the other hand, Jones cited little case law, instead rehashing his argument that Ransaw had been subjected to treatment that has "been unfair."

Ransaw and top school officials have been fighting for nearly a year. Nov. 19, Tellone suspended Ransaw after learning of a state investigation that found he pawned a school district laptop while working as an assistant principal in Broward County. The state investigation largely validated an earlier inquiry by Broward school officials.

Hernando officials say Ransaw managed to get a job locally because he and his references did not mention the laptop incident. At the time he pawned the laptop, public records show, Ransaw faced a host of personal financial problems.

Since January, Tellone has been trying to get the board to rule on her recommendation to fire Ransaw for misleading top school officials and destroying public records. But the hearing has been delayed for months for various reasons.

The proceedings dragged on for so long that Tellone decided by the end of last school year not to renew Ransaw's principal contract for this year. However, Tellone is still fighting to formally terminate him.

Last spring, board members quickly became frustrated with the tedious pace of one hearing they presided over and decided that it was best for a state judge to issue a ruling on Ransaw. The School Board would still have to decide whether to carry out the judge's decision.

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

[Last modified September 14, 2005, 09:36:12]