TAVARES, Fla. — Lake County school officials on Monday are set to uphold the firing of a special-education teacher accused of spraying water into an autistic student’s face to get his attention.
- Cara Sanderlin is accused of spraying water at a nonverbal student
- Teacher appealed termination from Pine Ridge Elementary
- Lake County School Board could adopt judge's recommended order
Cara Sanderlin is accused of spraying an 11-year-old, nonverbal student on three or four occasions at Pine Ridge Elementary near Clermont last fall.
Lake County Schools Superintendent Diane Kornegay told Sanderlin in a November 2018 letter that she would ask the School Board to terminate Sanderlin.
"This proposed action resulted from an investigation indicating that Ms. Sanderlin had 'used a water bottle to shape the behavior of a disabled student by squirting him,' " records say.
Sanderlin filed an appeal, triggering a legal process that could conclude Monday.
The Lake County School Board will consider the approval of recommended order from Florida Administrative Law Judge G. W. Chisenhall.
The order upholds Sanderlin’s termination. As proposed, her firing would be effective November 26, 2018. Sanderlin started teaching at Pine Ridge Elementary in 2015.
She holds a bachelor's degree in special education and has about 16 years of experience with students who have intellectual disabilities, emotional and mental problems, and autism, records show.
The Lake County School Board meeting starts at 6 p.m. Monday at the district’s administration building, 315 W. Main St., Tavares.