April 30, 2004
A Largo teacher accused of sexual abuse has faced allegations before. One father says it should have ended then.
Several parents were angry Thursday after learning a Largo teacher arrested on charges of sexually abusing two young students was allowed to remain in the classroom after several other students had previously accused him of inappropriate touching.
“I feel like if something had been done then, these two little girls wouldn’t have to suffer this year,” said the father of one of two girls who spoke with police last year about inappropriate touching.
“It’s making me sick,” he said. “Something should have been done then.”
School districts handle such matters in different ways.
Pinellas County school administrators defer to local law enforcement when an employee is accused of inappropriately touching a student. After an investigation, the teacher is either arrested or advised to be more cautious.
But school districts in Hillsborough and Pasco counties sometimes take administrative action before a police investigation is completed. In some cases, even when no criminal charges are brought, the employee is not allowed to return to the classroom.
“We will take a look at what they’ve gathered and what we’ve gathered and reach an independent determination about what our recommendation about that employee would be,” said Hillsborough schools spokesman Mark Hart.
Mark C. Fronczak, a Southern Oak Elementary music teacher, was arraigned Thursday on charges he sexually abused two students at the school.
Fronczak wore a blue jumpsuit and did not speak during his appearance via closed circuit television from the jail.
His ex-wife, the mother of his two children, said despite their divorce two years ago, Fronczak is a good teacher. But parents of both children who accused Fronczak last week said the children were terrified by their experiences.
“This man has taken something away from my 7-year-old daughter that can’t be replaced,” said one mother.
Douglas de Vlaming, attorney for Fronczak, said at the arraignment that the new accusations are “beyond belief.”
“An element of fear has been created at that elementary school based on the prior allegations,” he said.
Fronczak was being held Thursday evening in lieu of a $420,000 bail.
School districts don’t have to wait until teachers are charged to remove them from the classroom.
In Pasco, administrators would place a teacher on paid leave if he or she were accused of behavior that, if true, could be dangerous to students, said Terry Rhum, director of employee relations.
The same goes for Hillsborough.
“For the safety of the students and given the nature of the accusation we can place someone on administrative leave,” said Hart.
Hart cited the example of Jennifer Porter, the elementary dance teacher involved in a fatal hit-and-run who was placed on administrative leave before she was charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving death.
In Pinellas, the school district waits until law enforcement completes an investigation and then conducts its own.
District officials say it is inappropriate to ask about actions a teacher may have to testify about in court, said Michael Bessette, an administrator in Pinellas’ Office of Professional Standards, which investigates complaints against teachers.
The Sheriff’s Office findings don’t preclude the district from taking further action, but in two previous cases Fronczak was not removed from his classroom after girls alleged he pulled them close to him, put his hand around their waists and touched their abdomens.
“If there is no corroboration that ABC happened, there’s no action we can take at that point,” Bessette said.
Jade Moore, executive director of the Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association, said teachers are told of exact complaints against them until after an police investigation.
The district does this to protect teachers so they don’t become hysterical about false accusations. Moore said if the accusations are proved true, the district also doesn’t want to tip off the teacher, who could flee.
Judge Richard Luce on Thursday prohibited Fronczak from having unsupervised contact with children younger than 18 and to stay at least 1,000 feet away from schools or places where children congregate. He must also stay in Pinellas County.
Fronczak, who has no prior criminal record, faces life in prison without parole if convicted.
He has custody of his two sons, ages 13 and 15, de Vlaming said at the hearing. De Vlaming later provided the Times with nine letters from Southern Oak teachers vouching for his client’s reputation.
“I have never witnessed any inappropriate behavior,” wrote Mindy McConchie, a second-grade teacher at Southern Oak who said she has known Fronczak for 10 years. “My students love to go to music and often remind me when it is time.”
Assistant State Attorney Tim Hessinger had asked the judge to keep Fronczak in jail with no bail, but after Fronczak’s ex-wife and her father spoke on his behalf, Luce set the bail amount.
“There is no proof offered here today,” said the judge. “Just argument.”
A day after the allegations were made public, Heather Rutherford, 31, and other parents at Southern Oak Elementary were struggling to reconcile what they know about the friendly man who taught their children.
They had mixed reactions to accusations that Fronczak sexually assaulted two of their children’s classmates.
“It’s hard to be a loving teacher,” said Rutherford, of Largo. “I don’t know. He’s so flamboyant. He might not have thought about it, the way he hugged one of them.”
Her friend, Renee Riviera, said she was disappointed by the allegations and worried that trouble is possible, even in the best schools.
“You can’t escape evil,” said Riviera, 33, of Largo. “You just have to keep your eyes on God and let him get you through the tough times.”
- Staff Writers Chris Tisch and Jennifer Farrell contributed to this report.
