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Teacher's suicide attempt prompts morality debate

The superintendent wants her fired for trying to kill herself at school, but others show sympathy.

By MARY SPICUZZA
Published September 10, 2006

DADE CITY - On May 22, just three days before summer vacation, a language teacher at Pasco High School went to an office and began taking the antianxiety medications Alprazolam and Lorazepam and other pills, trying to kill herself.

Along with staff members, three or four students witnessed the after-school incident.

The teacher, 48-year-old Patti Withers, survived her suicide attempt. Now, she's trying to save her job.

Trying to take it from her is Pasco County schools superintendent Heather Fiorentino, who says Withers' in-school suicide attempt was an "immoral act."

She backed this position by distributing literature to School Board members that says people, especially adolescents and young adults, who witness a suicide are more likely to attempt it themselves.

Some School Board members are not sure firing Withers is a wise or compassionate course. And health professionals interviewed for this story said that equating a suicide attempt with immorality is absurd.

"Are you serious?" asked psychologist Dan Reidenberg, the executive director for Suicide Awareness Voices of Education SAVE of Bloomington, Minnesota.

"There isn't anything immoral about it," he said. "It's unfortunate that someone would use a moral line of reasoning when in fact you're talking about depression, which is a documented chemical imbalance in the brain."

Given Fiorentino's concern about the children who witnessed Withers' suicide attempt, a district official was asked if the school was taking any steps to monitor their mental health.

"Not to my knowledge," said Terry Rhum, director of employee relations.

* * *

School Board candidate Allen Altman thinks Withers may deserve to be fired but for reasons having nothing to do with a suicide attempt.

"She should have been fired five years ago for incompetence," he said during an interview on Aug. 2. Altman, who is in a runoff with Cathi Compton for the District 1 School Board seat, said he based his opinion on comments he had heard from students, parents and other teachers at Pasco High, where he has served on the School Advisory Committee since 1999.

He was asked if he thought Withers competency, rather than the suicide attempt, was the real issue.

"I'm assuming," he said.

District officials said the case against Withers has nothing to do with job performance.

"No, this is just simply about the single act that happened in May," Rhum said.

* * *

Nothing in the official record supports the notion that Withers was a bad teacher.

She began working for the district in 1998 and her written evaluations were consistently strong. She got the highest marks (satisfactory) every year and was called "dedicated," "very caring" and "hard-working."

Terry Aunchman, the district's supervisor of human resources who worked with Withers at Pasco High called her "a good employee."

"She was a wonderful teacher and she really engaged the kids in foreign language," he said. "She was very involved with the school, with the leadership team."

On July 25, the School Board suspended her without pay based on Fiorentino's recommendation that she not be allowed to return to the classroom. Withers suffered a relapse into depression when she heard about her suspension. Learning that, the board voted on Aug. 1 to instead suspend her with pay. On Aug. 15, the board placed her on a leave of absence.

"She's not looking to get back in the classroom at this time," United School Employees of Pasco business representative Robert Benjamin told the board. "She just wants the opportunity to get well so she can find her own path."

That could mean taking a non-classroom job, such as an office employee, or one of the many others that fall under the job description of "school-related personnel."

On Oct. 3, the School Board will hold a quasijudicial hearing to determine Wither's fate. Both school and union officials have avoided discussing Withers, citing the upcoming hearing, where both sides can present evidence, call witnesses and cross examine witnesses for the other side. The board can take up to 15 days to render a decision.

* * *

Fiorentino told the School Board why she wants Withers fired.

"We're not discussing her health here," Fiorentino told board members on July 25. "It's about the action of which she took, the behavior, her judgment, which she did in front of children - impressionable high school students."

"We have an employee who committed an immoral act in front of children," Fiorentino said. "I must look at the welfare of the children first."

Fiorentino gave School Board members literature from the National Institute of Mental Health detailing how those who witness a suicide may be more likely to attempt suicide themselves. She has spoken of "contagion," or how witnessing a suicide attempt can influence adolescents, citing a Harvard Medical School guide to suicide assessment and intervention.

Dr. Douglas Jacobs, an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School who edited the guide, said that clustered suicides, or contagion, account for 1 to 5 percent of all teen suicides in the United States. About 100 to 200 deaths may be attributed to contagion each year, Jacobs said. He added that mental health screenings are recommended for those exposed to suicide.

The effect of contagion appears to be strongest among adolescents.

But some studies have found contradictory results. A 2001 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study titled Is Suicide Contagious? A Study of the Relation between Exposure to the Suicidal Behavior of Others and Nearly Lethal Suicide Attempts said that exposure to suicide may actually decrease the risk for suicidal behavior.

* * *

Withers' professional fate turns on the intersection of morality, public policy and the law, where authorities will apparently find little precedent to guide their decision. The Times could find no similar incident involving a teacher's unsuccessful on-campus suicide attempt.

Fiorentino's July 12 letter informing Withers that she planned to recommend her termination cited a section of the Florida State Board of Education administrative rules governing suspension and dismissal. Those rules say, in part, "Immorality is defined as conduct that is inconsistent with the standards of public conscience and good morals. It is conduct sufficiently notorious to bring the individual concerned or the education profession into public disgrace or disrespect and impair the individual's service in the community."

In the letter, Fiorentino wrote that "it is my belief that your actions were immoral and that they qualify as misconduct in office as described by Florida State Board Rules."

The rules don't specifically mention suicide. But for Fiorentino, it's a clear case of misconduct.

"As a teacher, you're a role model for children," she said. "And this is not what I want as an example."

Fiorentino carries a heavy responsibility, according to Florida School Boards Association executive director Wayne Blanton.

"The first job is not education," he said. "The first duty is the health, safety and welfare of students. She (Fiorentino) is dealing with this in the way she feels is necessary at the time."

A spokesman for the U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said there are legal issues involved.

Chris Kuczynski, assistant legal counsel for the EEOC's Americans with Disabilities Act division, said: "You can't really separate out the suicide attempt from the underlying disability."

Kuczynski said that, under the Americans with Disabilities Act, an employee with disabilities such as mental illness may need to pose a direct threat to themselves or others for an employer to take action.

The teachers union has urged the School Board to allow Withers to go on health leave so that she can continue therapy and recover, rather than taking action - such as termination - that would end her health benefits.

"I would like the same compassion extended to the person who attempts suicide and fails than to the person who attempts suicide and succeeds," United School Employees of Pasco president Lynne Webb said.

Some School Board members seemed sympathetic with that position.

"Depression is an illness," board member Marge Whaley said. "When someone is depressed and attempts suicide, they are not thinking clearly."

Jean Larkin Weightman was also sympathetic to Withers' position.

"Deciding where you are going to commit suicide is like deciding where you're going to have your stroke or your heart attack," Weightman said at the July 25 School Board meeting. "You're not acting in a rational manner."

Dr. Jacobs of Harvard Medical School said that psychiatric professionals don't talk about suicide as having to do with immorality.

"No, a suicide is part of a mental illness," Jacobs said. "It's not a question of suicide being right or wrong, moral or immoral."

The Catholic church has a decidedly different view. Father Len Plazewski, the director of vocations for the Diocese of St. Petersburg, said the Church considers suicide an offense against the commandment Thou shalt not kill.

"So absolutely," he said. "It runs contrary to moral law, taking your own life."

Fiorentino is a Catholic. But she said it has nothing to do with her decision to recommend termination of employment for Withers.

"My decision," she said, "is purely based on protecting children and doing what's right for the children."

Times researchers John Martin, Caryn Baird and Angie Drobnic Holan contributed to this report.

Mary Spicuzza covers education in Pasco County. She can be reached at (813) 909-4614 or toll free at 1 (800) 333-7505, ext. 4614. Her e-mail address is mspicuzza@sptimes.com.

SUICIDE WARNING SIGNS

People should contact a mental health professional or a hotline, such as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, if someone exhibits any of the following signs:

- Threatening to hurt or kill oneself or talking about wanting to do so.

- Looking for ways to kill oneself by seeking access to firearms, pills or other means.

- Talking or writing about death, dying or suicide.

- Feeling hopeless.

- Feeling rage or uncontrolled anger, or seeking revenge.

- Acting reckless or engaging in risky activities, seemingly without thinking.

- Feeling trapped.

- Increasing alcohol or drug use.

- Withdrawing from friends, family and society.

- Feeling anxious, agitated or unable to sleep, or sleeping all the time.

- Experiencing dramatic mood changes.

- Seeing no reason for living or having no sense or purpose in life.

Source: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

[Last modified September 10, 2006, 06:53:56]