Two school administrators depart; three suspended without pay

Two Manatee County School District administrators stepped down and three others were suspended without pay based on findings from a misconduct investigation of a former Manatee High School assistant football coach.

Former district investigator Debra Horne retired from the district and former staff attorney Scott Martin resigned from the district.

The three other administrators  — assistant superintendent Bob Gagnon and former Manatee High assistant principals Matthew Kane and Gregg Faller — were suspended without pay by the School Board Oct. 14 with unanimous 5-0 votes on each.

This comes after a two-month internal inquiry determined the administrators, including Gagnon, an East County resident who formerly served as assistant principal at Lakewood Ranch High School, poorly responded to groping allegations against Rod Frazier, the football coach.

The five administrators have been on paid leave since August.

Superintendent Rick Mills had recommended the termination of the five administrators. 

The school board cannot vote on that recommendation until the close of the window in which the administrators can request a hearing. They have 21 days from Oct. 4, when they were served with administrative complaints, to do so. 

The district’s inquiry supported a police investigation that concluded with Frazier being charged with seven counts of battery for alleged lewd behavior toward students and staff at Manatee High.

Frazier resigned from his post in July.

In August, the state charged Gagnon, Horne, Faller and Kane with failure to report child abuse, a third-degree felony in Florida.

Gagnon, Kane and Faller were also charged with lying to police.

All have pleaded not guilty.

Gagnon, also a former principal of Manatee High, was briefly the interim superintendent of the district after Tim McGonegal resigned last September.

Contact Josh Siegel at [email protected].