Teachers in Swing Case Can Work

08:09 PM ET 08/17/99
By KAREN TESTA, AP

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) - Two teachers caught in a private sex club can go back to work, but not in the classroom, a school board voted Tuesday. Kenneth Springer and Tonya Whyte will earn their teacher salary for up to nine months and be assigned to some other duties within the Broward County school district until the allegations they acted immorally are resolved by an administrative judge.

The board's decision comes just two weeks after the same panel voted 8-1 to suspend Springer and Whyte indefinitely without pay.  The negative public backlash which followed prompted the board to reconsider.

``We were obviously looking for a total exoneration, but as a fallback position, we'll take this,'' said Anthony Gentile, president of the Broward Teachers Union, who spoke on behalf of the suspended teachers. Springer and Whyte did not attend the meeting.   Springer, a teacher at South Broward High School, and Whyte, a teacher at Deerfield Beach High School, were arrested in January along with 19 other people during a raid at a now-defunct private swingers club in Pompano Beach.

Both were charged with lewd and lascivious conduct, though the charges against Springer have since been dropped.  Springer was there with his wife and Whyte was there with a male friend.

There was no telephone listing for Whyte and Springer did not answer repeated calls for comment.

Several board members expressed concerns about taking action against the teachers before a criminal case is concluded - or after a criminal charge has been dropped. Some said they thought the board never should have had to do anything with the case. ``It did not happen on a child. It did not happen on our property,'' said member Miriam Oliphant, who made the motion to reconsider the unpaid suspensions. ``Everybody I've talked to said this should not be here on our agenda.''

Tuesday's board meeting attracted television crews from around the country and a standing room only crowd. However, the expected heated discussion of morals and the teachers' cases never developed. Instead, the board members spent two hours discussing problems they perceived in the administrative process.

Members of the public who attended spoke overwhelmingly in favor of the board voting to drop proceedings against the teachers. The board voted 6-3 against that.

``I think they're opening up a can of worms, because from here, where do they go?'' said Lori Glasser. ``I do not feel we have any business in the private lives of our teachers.''

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