Florida’s Education Practices Commission has finally revoked the teaching certificate of Doreen Whitfield, a special education and drama instructor from Jacksonville who has been making violent threats to colleagues for 15 years.
The first complaint about Whitfield dates back to 1999, according to FirstCoastNews.com. While discussing a dispute at a school payroll office, Whitfield allegedly told a companion, “All they need is one fatality up here and everything would be OK.”
Then there was 2004, when Whitfield learned she would not be retained at the school she was working at. She allegedly said she hated the principal and wanted to cut his heart out with a knife.
Then there was 2011, when the principal of another school revealed that Whitfield’s position would be eliminated the following year, presumably for budgetary reasons. The teacher allegedly responded by saying, “Maybe something needs to happen to the principal’s children.”
The principal was reportedly so shaken that she asked her husband to check on their children at daycare and asked to be escorted by a security guard to and from her office, the news report said.
Here’s the key line to the entire story: “Despite the years of complaints, Whitfield remained a teacher in the school system, at Lakeshore Middle, Mandarin High, Bayview Elementary and most recently West View K-8.”
Why did it take so long to revoke this troubled woman’s teaching certificate?
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