Boynton Beach Elementary School Physical Education Teacher Accused In Federal Court Of Raping Child. Initially Denied Education License.
BY: ANDREW COLTON | Editor and Publisher
BOYNTON BEACH, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2024 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — The Sunset Palms Elementary School teacher accused in a federal civil rights lawsuit of repeatedly raping a student at the school in Boynton Beach was initially denied an educator’s license in the State of Florida due to his arrest history. The teacher, Dax Rankine, sued the State of Florida, eventually reached a “settlement agreement” with the Florida Department of Education, and was permitted to teach. He was later hired by the Palm Beach County School District.
The 2007 settlement agreement is a key part of the lawsuit filed by the parents of the girl who claimed she was raped in bathrooms at Sunset Palms Elementary. Rankine was never arrested nor charged by any law enforcement agency for the alleged sexual assaults which the suit claim took place just before the COVID-19 shutdowns. Rankine was pulled from student contact at Sunset Palms Elementary School earlier this week as BocaNewsNow.com broke the story of the federal suit.
The full Department of Education settlement agreement is published, below. Here are key excerpts that attorneys for the alleged victim say should have stopped the Palm Beach County School District from hiring Rankine, or at the very least putting him in a position with student contact:
“DAX RANKINE, Department of Education Number 971448, having filed his application for a Florida Educator’s Certificate before the Department of Education; and The Department of Education having reviewed the application in accordance with Sections 1012.56, 1012.795 and 1012.796, Florida Statutes, has determined that DAX RANKINE is not entitled to the issuance of a Florida Educator’s Certificate, accordingly; The Department of Education files and serves upon the Applicant, DAX RANKINE, its Notice of Reasons for its denial in accordance with the provisions of Section 120.60, Florida Statutes, and as grounds therefore, alleges:
1. On or about May 8, 1998, Applicant was involved in an aulomobile accident with property damage and left the scene of the accident without identifying himself to the other driver or providing insurance information. Applicant was charged with Hit and Run Leaving Scene of Accident with Property Damage. On or about November 16, 1998, Applicant pled guilty to the charge and the court withheld adjudication of guilt.
2. On or about August 31, 1998, Applicant entered a retail establishment and verbally and physically abused E. J.. a member of the store’s security staff. Applicant threw a bottle at E. J. and punched him in the eye and about the bead. Applicant was arrested and charged with Aggravated Assault. On or about October 21, 1998, the state attorney’s office reduced the charge to the lesser included offense of Simple Battery, On or about November 16, 1998, the court withheld adjudication of guilt and placed Applicant on 6 months probation.
3. On or about June 13, 2002, Applicant was driving while intoxicated or otherwise impaired. Additionally, Applicant was in possession of an unknown substance, packaged to sell and accompanied by an account of sales. Applicant was also in possession of drug paraphernalia with marijuana residue. Applicant was arrested and charged with: Count 1, Drug Possession to Distribute; Count 2, Drug Violation Near School/Park; Count 3, Operating Under the Influence Alcohol; Count 4, Operating Under the Influence Drugs; Count 5, Marijuana Possession; Count 6, Improper Operation of Motor Vehicle. On or about August 21, 2002, Applicant entered a plea of not guilty to all counts. The court dismissed all charges upon Applicant’s completion of a driving under the influence program.
The Department of Education charges:
STATUTE VIOLATIONS
COUNT 1: The Applicant is in violation of Section 1012.56(2)(e), Florida Statutes, which requires that the holder of a Florida Educator’s Certificate be of good moral character.
COUNT 2: The Applicant is in violation of Section 1012.56(11)(a), Florida Statutes, which provides that the Department of Education may deny an Applicant a certificate if the department possesses evidence satisfactory to it that the Applicant has committed an act or acts, or that a situation exists for which the Education Practices Commission would be authorized to revoke a teaching certificate.
COUNT 3: The Applicant is in violation of Section 1012.795(1)(c), Florida Statutes, in that he has been guilty of gross immorality or an act involving moral turpitude.
COUNT 4: The Applicant is in violation of Section 1012.795(2), Florida Statutes, which provides that the plea of guilty in any court or the decision of guilty by any court is prima facia proof of grounds for the revocation of the certificate.”
The Palm Beach County School District is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Neither Rankine nor the school district have filed responses to the suit that have been processed through the court’s “PACER” document management system. The Palm Beach County School District has not issued a statement regarding the allegations, other than to confirm that Rankine has been temporarily reassigned and to state that Florida’s Department of Children and Families investigated the claims when they were first made. Read our original coverage here. The Department of Education document is below.
Florida has a big shortage of teachers, so they scrape the bottom of the barrel to get them.
This hiring of unfit people at all levels seems to be par for the course in Florida, starting with the highest levels of government down to allowing criminals to teach, and abuse, your children. Disgraceful ‼️
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