#340-TTC-792 --
DOCKET NO. 340-TTC-792
TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY, + BEFORE THE STATE
DIVISION OF EDUCATIONAL +
PERSONNEL RECORDS +
+
V. + COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION
+
+
+
CURTIS WAYNE FOOS + THE STATE OF TEXAS
DECISION OF THE COMMISSIONER
Statement of the Case
Petitioner Texas Education Agency, Division of
Educational Personnel Records requests that the education
credentials of Curtis Wayne Foos, Respondent, be sanctioned.
A hearing was held on October 6, 1992 before Joan
Howard Allen, the Hearing Officer appointed by the State
Commissioner of Education. Petitioner is represented by
Terry J. Johnson, Attorney at Law, Austin, Texas.
Respondent is represented by Jefferson K. Brim, III,
Attorney at Law, Austin, Texas.
On December 30, 1992, the Hearing Officer issued a
Proposal for Decision recommending that Petitioner's request
be granted and Respondent's Texas Teacher Certificate be
suspended for a period of one year. Exceptions to the
Proposal for Decision were timely filed and considered.
Findings of Fact
After due consideration of the evidence and matters
officially noticed, in my capacity as State Commissioner of
Education, I make the following Findings of Fact:
1. Respondent Curtis Wayne Foos is the holder of
Texas Teacher Certificate No. XXX-XX-XXXX. (Stipulated).
2. At all relevant times, Respondent was an adult.
(Stipulated).
3. On or about November 8, 1989, Respondent was
employed by the Dublin, Texas Independent School District as
a physical education classroom teacher assigned to Dublin
High School. (Stipulated).
4. At all times relevant hereto, Curtis Yocom was a
public school student in Respondent's physical education
class. (Stipulated).
5. On November 8, 1989, Curtis Yocom, a student in
Respondent's physical education class, spoke out when
Respondent slapped another student on the side of the face
with a yardstick, an action which left a red mark on the
student's cheek. Respondent threw the yardstick down,
jumped on Mr. Yocom and hit the student five or six times in
the head and the right arm. Two students were required to
pull Respondent off Mr. Yocom. Mr. Yocom sustained a bloody
nose and a cut lip. (T. 17-18, 24, 32-33).
6. Respondent lost control when Mr. Yocom grabbed the
yardstick as Respondent was attempting to take the same
action against Mr. Yocom that he had with the first student.
(T. 33). Respondent subsequently resigned his position.
(T. 35).
7. Prior to the attack on Mr. Yocom, Respondent's
tire was slashed at a ball game where he was coaching and
his truck was toilet papered and urinated in by students.
The week before the incident, Respondent's house was toilet
papered and students wrote on the windows. (T. 38- 39). He
also was under stress at school due to a conflict with the
athletic director about the basketball season. (T. 39).
8. On or about January 9, 1990, in Cause No. 21,017
before the County Court in Erath County, Texas, Respondent
pled nolo contendere to the Class C misdemeanor offense of
assault, that Respondent received deferred adjudication and
that at this time Respondent is not on probation or parole
and is in no way subject to the supervision of the criminal
justice system of this state or any other state.
(Stipulated).
9. Respondent is currently employed as an Upward
Bound program employee, working with disadvantaged children
who are at risk of dropping out. (T. 36-37). He has had no
further physical outbursts. (T. 37). Respondent has not
received psychological counseling; however, he has engaged
in peer counseling with a coworker. (T. 43).
10. Respondent's former supervisors, including the
superintendent of Dublin ISD, know of the attack on Mr.
Yocom and would still rehire him. (T. 50, 56, 61).
Discussion
The state has the obligation to protect students
against educators who harm them. Physical abuse of minor
children directly relates to the duties of the profession.
19 T.A.C. +141.5. In at least three other cases, the
Commissioner has revoked the certificates of educators who
attacked their students. See TEA v. Twine, No. 183-TTC-391,
TEA v. Cross, No. 201-TTC-391 and TEA v. Darthard, No.
198-TTC-391.
Unworthiness to instruct the youth of the state, under
Tex. Educ. Code +13.046(a)(2), has been defined as a lack of
worth or absence of those moral and mental qualities re-
quired to enable one to render service essential to the
accomplishment of the object which the law had in view.
Marrs v. Matthews, 270 S.W. 586 (Tex. Civ. App.--Texarkana
1925, writ ref'd). Any educator who loses his or her
composure, strikes and injures a child out of anger over the
child's defiant behavior falls within this definition.
Although Respondent is truly embarrassed and remorseful
about his behavior, and although his former and current
supervisors are extremely supportive, one cannot overlook
the fact that he struck two students and failed to maintain
his composure. This situation is much like the Twine case,
in which the parents of the injured student and the
administration supported the teacher, who hit a young
student with a ruler.
However, unlike the Twine case, Respondent did not
attempt to cover up his actions. He immediately advised his
supervisors and resigned. He has been forthright with
subsequent employers and has performed his duties without
further incident. He has, at all times, recognized the
gravity of his actions and has taken responsibility for
them. And, unlike the Cross and Darthard cases, Respondent
has appeared at hearing to describe the circumstances
surrounding his actions, seeking to mitigate the incident.
In this case, a suspension of one year is appropriate as
opposed to a revocation.
Petitioner's request should be granted and that
Respondent's Texas teaching credentials be suspended for a
period of one year.
Reply to Exceptions
Respondent requests that the one year suspension
proposed by the Hearing Officer be backdated to the date of
the incident. Although Respondent presented himself
effectively at hearing, the fact remains that he struck two
students. Under most circumstances, this alone would
warrant revocation. The mitigation and the acceptance of
culpability did not, and probably could not, extend to
backdating the suspension. Respondent's Exceptions are
overruled.
Conclusions of Law
After due consideration of the record, matters
officially noticed, and the foregoing Findings of Fact, in
my capacity as State Commissioner of Education, I make the
following Conclusions of Law:
1. The Commissioner of Education has jurisdiction
over the instant matter pursuant to Tex. Educ. Code
+13.046(a).
2. Respondent Curtis Wayne Foos, holder of Texas
Teacher Certificate No. XXX-XX-XXXX is unworthy to instruct
the youth of this state by virtue of his action of striking
one student with a yardstick in the face and repeatedly
hitting another student, causing bleeding to the student's
nose and lip.
3. Respondent's Texas Teacher Certificate No.
XXX-XX-XXXX should be suspended for a period of one year
from the date of this order.
4. Respondent should surrender his copy of
Respondent's Texas Teacher Certificate to the Texas
Education Agency, Division of Educational Personnel Records.
5. The Texas Education Agency, Division of
Educational Personnel Records should prepare and distribute
appropriate notices notifying the public of the suspension
of Respondent's teacher certificate.
6. Petitioner's request should be granted.
O R D E R
After due consideration of the record, matters
officially noticed, and the foregoing Findings of Fact and
Conclusions of Law, in my capacity as State Commissioner of
Education, it is hereby
ORDERED that Respondent's Texas Teacher Certificate No.
XXX-XX-XXXX be, and is hereby, SUSPENDED for a period of
one year from the date of this order; and,
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Respondent surrender his
copy of Respondent's Texas Teacher Certificate to the Texas
Education Agency, Division of Educational Personnel Records;
and,
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Texas Education Agency,
Division of Educational Personnel Records prepare and
distribute appropriate notices notifying the public of the
suspension of Respondent's teacher certificate; and,
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Petitioner's request be, and
is hereby, GRANTED.
SIGNED AND ISSUED this ______day of ______,
1993.
______
LIONEL R. MENO
COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION