Elementary teacher quits after inquiry into abuse

Two Deltona Elementary students say the teacher, who has been investigated in the past, was too rough with them.

By ROBERT KING

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 18, 2000

SPRING HILL -- A Deltona Elementary School teacher who was the subject of a sheriff's investigation in March -- her second in four years -- resigned last week even though she will not face any criminal charges.

School district officials said Darlene Davis, 37, was accused by two students of being too rough. One girl said the teacher grabbed her by the arm and hurt her. Another said the teacher struck her twice on the back with an open hand.

In 1996, Davis pleaded no contest to a charge that she battered a first-grader at Eastside Elementary School. In that case, she was accused of grabbing a student by the arm and pulling him a short distance before pushing him to the ground and squeezing his face.

In the latest case, the Hernando County Sheriff's Office looked into the allegations but decided not to press charges, said Edd Poore, the school district's human resources director.

It was not clear what led to that decision. Sheriff's officials said state law prohibits them from discussing child abuse cases unless charges are filed. The sheriff's spokeswoman would not acknowledge the existence of an investigation.

But it is clear that an investigation took place. Poore and Deltona principal Janet Dunleavy have acknowledged as much. There's a notation in Davis's school district file that contains the name of a sheriff's detective and a case number.

Davis could not be reached Monday.

She wrote a one-paragraph resignation letter July 6 that stated she would not teach this year at Deltona or any other school in Hernando County.

In March, shortly after the investigation began, Davis asked for and was granted a leave of absence -- a move that probably staved off a suspension, Poore said. In her letter, she referred to the watchful eye she was under at Deltona.

"During this school year I have felt that I have been put under a microscope for everything that I have done," Davis wrote to Dunleavy in March. "I no longer feel comfortable working for you or Mrs. (assistant principal Alice) Black."

Black had no comment on the case Monday; Dunleavy was unavailable.

Davis' decision to resign ends what has been a tumultuous teaching career.

In April 1996, when she was first arrested at Eastside, Davis was suspended without pay for 12 days in connection with the incident that led to the misdemeanor battery charge. When her suspension was up, she spent the rest of the year on medical leave.

By October 1996, she was back in the classroom -- at Deltona, about as far from Eastside as possible, as far as the Hernando school system goes. She was placed with an experienced team of teachers. District officials later would say that one incident of improperly handling a student should not disqualify someone from ever teaching again.

In 1997, Davis was evaluated by a psychiatrist and a psychotherapist, who both concluded that her treatment was complete and that she had achieved "maximum clinical improvement." For a time, she had no classroom troubles.

But in November 1998 she was the subject of a complaint regarding her disciplinary tactics and was warned not to chastise children in front of others.

In 1999, the state Education Practices Commission finally examined the Eastside matter two years after the fact. For Davis' agreement not to contest the allegations, she was allowed to continue teaching, albeit with a letter of reprimand and two years of probation.

Then, this February she was accused at Deltona of threatening to take a book and slam it down on the floor in front of her class "so hard it would scare the sh-- out of you," according to documents in her file. The school's staff responded by telling her to try another approach when seeking her class' attention.

In March came the latest allegations, which prompted the sheriff's investigation.

In response to the accusation that she grabbed the arm of one student and hurt the child, Davis gave district officials a written version of the incident that makes no mention of physical contact. With regard to the other student, Davis wrote that she "patted her on the back."

In this case, Davis may have avoided criminal prosecution. But it is not clear whether the matter of her probationary status with the Education Practices Commission will die so easily. As is school district procedure, Deltona officials reported the latest issue to the commission, which still could take action against her teaching license. That could affect her ability to teach outside Hernando County.

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