l BEFORE THE OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS
Q ON BEHALF OF
3 TEACHER STANDARDS AND PRACTICES COMMISSION
4 In the Matter of the Teaching License of OAH Case No. I 10849
5 MICHAEL KEITH PLOUFF l
6 FINAL ORDER BY DEFAULT
7 On March l 1, 2003, the Teacher Standards and Practices Commission (Commission)
8 issued a Notice of Opportunity for Hearing to Michael Keith Plouff, in which the Commission
9 proposed to revoke Mr. Plouft‘ s n'ght t0 apply for an Oregon Teaching License. Mr. Plouff
10 requested a hearing. A hearing was scheduled before Administrative Law Judge Michael Duane
11 Brown at 9 a.m. on January I3, 2004. Mr. Plouff failed to appear at the scheduled time and place
2 of the hearing.
‘3 The Notice of Opportunity for Hearing informed Mr. Plouff that if he failed to appear at
l4 the hearing the Commission would adopt an order of default and that the records contained the
15 ﬁles of the Commission would automatically become a part of the contested case record upon
l6 default for purposes of proving a prama facie case. The Commission, therefore, ﬁnds Mr. Plouff
l7 in default and enters the following ﬁndings of fact, conclusions of law and order, based on the
18 ﬁles and records of the Commission concerning this matter. ‘
l9 FINDINGS OF FACT 1
20 1. Michael Keith Plouff held a Basic Oregon Teaching License from July I985 until
21 July 9, 2002 when the license expired.
22 2. Mr. Plouff was employed as a teacher at the Kelly Middle Schools in Eugene,
23 Oregon, from I985 until June 12, 2002 when he resigned his position with the district.
O
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1 3. In the fall of 2000, Mr. PloufPs supervising principal, Jane Harrison, began
Q receiving complaints from staff members that they smelled alcohol on Mr. Plouffs breath. In
3 March 2001, Ms. Harrison, sent a memo to Mr. Plouff expressing concern about the complaints
4 and recommending that Mr. Plouff seek help from an alcohol treatment provider. Mr. Plouff
5 denied that he had a drinking problem or that he had appeared at work aﬁer consuming alcohol.
6 4. In 2001, Mr. Plouff worked in a summer school program. There were complaints
7 from the summer school staff about Mr. Plouffs level of cooperation and the odor of alcohol on
8 Mr. Plouﬁ‘.
9 5. In August 2001, Tim Rochholz became principal at Kelly Middle Schools.
10 Mr. Rochholz wrote a memo to Mr. Plouff concerning the complaints from summer school staff
ll and putting Mr. Plouff on notice that coming to work while smelling of alcohol would not be
tolerated.
é 6. During the fall of 2001, there were additional complaints from staff who believed
l4 that Mr. Plouff smelled of alcohol. Mr. PloufPs work performance deteriorated. He was absent
15 during l6 of the ﬁrst 4O days of school. He did not maintain adequate student progress records
16 and did not leave adequate lesson plans for a substitute teacher to follow. He also did not appear
17 for a scheduled teacher-parent conference day, even though a signiﬁcant number of his students
l8 were not achieving passing grades. On November 5, 2001, Mr. Rochholz informed Mr. Plouﬁ‘ in
l9 writing that a doctor’s note would be required for any future absences.
20 7. Following negotiations with the district, Mr. Plouff agreed and his attorney agreed
21 that Mr. Plouff would submit to alcohol testing if the school had a credible report that he smelled
22 of alcohol.
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.‘ 8. 0n March l, Mr. Plouff submitted to a breath alcohol test. He tested positive with
2 a 0.085 percent blood alcohol content.
3 9. As a result of his positive test result, Mr. Plouff was placed on a leave of absence
4 and was admitted to an in-patient alcohol treatment program. Aﬂer completion of treatment of
5 the inpatient program, Mr. Plouff was allowed to retum to work and signed a “Last Chance”
6 Agreement with the school agreement. Part of the agreement required Mr. Plouff to abstain from
7 the use of alcohol and continue with treatment through an alcohol treatment provider.
8 10. Mr. Plouff returned to work on April 1, 2002. On April 15, he was again tested at
9 the school and registered a 0.012 percent blood-alcohol content. Shortly thereaﬁer, he resigned
10 his position as a teacher with the district.
1 l 11. On May 2, 2002, Mr. Plouﬁ‘s treatment program issued a status report indicating
that his case was being closed because he had discontinued treatment against clinical advice.
‘3 CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
14 1. ORS 342.175 authorizes the Commission to revoke the right of any person to apply
15 for a teaching license if the person has held a license at any time within the previous ﬁve years.
l6 2. Mr. Plouff appeared on duty on two separate occasions while under the inﬂuence
l7 of alcohol.
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J GMztj h\GENH8962 Department ofJustice
1 152 Court Sheet NE
Sa“22‘0‘2>“9313‘§'23‘°%

‘I ORDER
2 Based on the foregoing, the right of Michael Keith Plouff to apply for an Oregon
3 Teaching License is revoked. +0
4 IT IS SO ORDERED this A5’ day of January 2004.
5 TEACHER STANDARDS AND PRACTICES COMMISSION
6 4 WM
7 Victoria Charnb r1 in, Executive Director
8
9
APPEAL RIGHTS: You are entitled to judicial review of this order in accordance with ORS
10 Chapter 183.480. You may request judicial review by ﬁling a petition with the Court of Appeals
in Salem, Oregon within 60 days from the date of this order. Tape recordings of Administrative
l 1 Hearings are retained 90 days aﬂer the date of the ﬁnal order.
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JGMth h\GENI-I8962 Department of Justice
1 162 Court sm NE
Salem, OR 973014096
(503) 9414520