Ex-investigator barred from Manatee County School District jobs

BRADENTON -- A former Manatee County School District investigator will not be allowed to reapply for jobs in the district after a 4-to-1 Manatee County School Board vote.

On Tuesday, the board went with the recommendation of Superintendent Diana Greene to hold Debra Horne to an agreement saying she will not be able to apply for jobs with the

district again.

Greene previously told the board she worried amending the agreement may encourage others to do the same and put the district in a difficult position if Horne did apply.

Greene's recommendation was a tipping point for board Vice Chairman Charlie Kennedy.

"That kind of stopped me in my tracks last week," Kennedy said.

Dave Miner was the only board member voting to go against the superintendent's recommendation and allow Horne to reapply.

Horne, who retired in October 2013, was initially charged with failure to report allegations in the Roderick Frazier student abuse case. She enrolled in a pretrial intervention program and all charges were dropped.

Horne signed a settlement agreement with the board, which said she would not apply for any jobs in return for the district not pursuing any legal action against her.

Horne and her lawyer, Scott Martin, wanted the school board to remove the provision, saying it is the fair and right thing to do.

After a preliminary vote last meeting to allow the board lawyer to look over the agreement to make sure it wouldn't cause problems to change the provision, the board took final action Tuesday. Carpenter clarified she voted incorrectly last meeting when she voted "yes." Carpenter said she meant to vote against it at the time.

The board also discussed another settlement from the Frazier case. Alice Kaddatz, mother of a student involved in the Frazier case, asked the school board to release her from a settlement agreement she signed with the district.

She said she fears she would violate the settlement if she spoke publicly during board meetings and set herself up to be sued. Kaddatz said she is asking for herself to be released from the settlement, and her request does not include her daughter.

The student brought complaints about Frazier, a former coach and parent liaison, to Manatee High School's attention and the district. In the lawsuit, the student and Kaddatz blamed the district for Frazier's actions.

In August, the school board and the mother and daughter settled after board agreed to pay $210,000, including $10,000 for the mother's claim and the rest for the student's claim.

The board rejected changing the settlement. The board lawyer said the settlement does not keep Kaddatz from speaking at board meetings. The board also:

Approved renaming the basketball court at Southeast High School after girl's basketball coach John Harder.

Approved negotiating with PeopleSoft, a Pleasanton, Calif., business systems company, to overhaul school district business systems.

Meghin Delaney, education reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7081. Follow her on Twitter @MeghinDelaney.

This story was originally published February 9, 2016 at 11:12 PM with the headline "Ex-investigator barred from Manatee County School District jobs ."