State bans fired principal
Michael Ransaw's credentials are revoked in Florida. He says he'll appeal.
By TOM MARSHALL
Published December 12, 2006
BROOKSVILLE - Fired Powell Middle School principal Michael Ransaw was barred Friday from ever again teaching in a Florida public school.
Under the Education Practices Commission ruling, Ransaw was stripped of his state certifications as a school principal and guidance counselor, and forbidden from ever reapplying for those jobs or others requiring state certification, Department of Education spokeswoman Cheryl Etters said.
He has 30 days to appeal the ruling, and Ransaw said Monday he plans to do just that.
"I'm appalled," Ransaw said, describing the ruling as unjust and unlawful.
"I'm beside myself," Ransaw said.
The former Powell principal was suspended in 2004, after officials learned that he pawned a laptop computer and was demoted while working as an assistant principal in Broward County, and then failed to disclose either fact in applying to work in Hernando.
An administrative judge in 2006 found Ransaw guilty of misconduct and gross insubordination for that failure and subsequent behavior during a district investigation, and recommended his firing. The School Board promptly did so.
Ransaw has admitted that he made a "bonehead mistake" in pawning the laptop.
But he said other allegations that weren't proved in the 2006 administrative proceeding - including the accusation that he failed to notify Hernando officials of a state investigation against his certification - have now been used against him.
Neither Ransaw nor his attorney, Willie Jones, was present Friday in Tallahassee to challenge Commissioner of Education John L. Winn's accusations. Jones said he was trying a capital case in Collier County and had been unable to reach the commission to reschedule the hearing.
"We had called for the past three days and left messages," Ransaw said. "They never called us back. No one responded. That means they had their minds made up about my livelihood, when a judge had found me not guilty."
Judges have thrown out state and federal lawsuits Ransaw filed against the Hernando County School Board after Jones, who has been ill, failed to appear for court dates. A third civil suit is pending in Circuit Court in Hernando County.
But Ransaw said he plans to refile the federal suit and press on with the effort to clear his name. And he promised to pull no punches, even if that meant implicating "people in high position" for their own misdeeds.
In an amended certification complaint filed last spring, Commissioner Winn accused Ransaw of violating two Florida statutes - being in violation of "gross immorality or an act involving moral turpitude" and violating the state Board of Education's principles of professional conduct.
He also said Ransaw violated four state administrative rules, including one barring job applicants from making fraudulent statements or failing to disclose a material fact.
But Jones said he and his client had not been properly notified of the nature of the Education Practices Commission hearing.
"It was my understanding we were in the mode of resolving the complaint through a settlement, and that didn't happen," Jones said.
Tom Marshall can be reached at tmarshall@sptimes.com or 352 848-1431.