A high-profile disciplinary case against an Alachua County teacher abruptly stalled this week after an administrative law judge closed the file, granting a request from state education officials to take a step back and “conduct further investigation.”
The order, issued Monday by Judge Yolonda Green, marks a significant procedural turn in the case against Lauren Watts, a social studies teacher at Gainesville High School.
The controversy began in August when Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas issued an administrative complaint against Watts regarding incidents from the 2022-2023 school year. The state alleged Watts allowed a student to be disparaged by classmates who suggested he was a “Hitler sympathizer.” Furthermore, the complaint accused Watts of presenting the student with a mock certificate in front of peers declaring him the “most likely member of the class to become a dictator.” The state claimed this was based on the student’s conservative comments.
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However, the prosecution hit a snag after Watts’ legal team pushed back, alleging the state had trampled on her due process rights.
In a motion to dismiss filed last month, Watts’ attorneys argued the Department of Education bypassed standard procedures. They specifically pointed to an August 21 post on X (formerly Twitter) where Kamoutsas announced he was taking action against Watts days before she was formally notified of the allegations.
“The allegations were over two years old and there is no need for willfully disregarding these procedural safeguards,” the defense motion stated. Her attorneys argued the decision to post on social media before following statutory requirements appeared intentional, designed to damage her professional standing without a fair hearing.
Faced with the motion to dismiss, an attorney for the Commissioner filed a response on Nov. 5 asking to “withdraw and hold in abeyance” the complaint. The state argued this retreat would allow them time to gather more information and finally provide Watts with an informal conference—a step that allegedly should have happened earlier.
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Watts’ attorneys opposed the state’s request for a “do-over,” writing that the agency shouldn’t get multiple attempts to correct its own prosecution errors.
“The burden of conducting a lawful investigation falls on the department, not the respondent,” her lawyers wrote.
Despite the objections from the defense, Judge Green approved the Commissioner’s request to withdraw the complaint on Monday, relinquishing jurisdiction back to the Education Practices Commission.
In her closing order, Judge Green highlighted the precarious position of the state’s case, noting that by asking for more time to investigate, the Commissioner “seems to suggest that probable cause was not providently found for the administrative complaint in this matter.”
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