Judge Recommends Reprimand, Not Suspension, for Gainesville High Teacher Targeted by State Officials Over 'Dictator' Superlative

An administrative law judge has recommended that Gainesville High School history teacher Lauren Watts receive a written letter of reprimand, not a suspension, over a class superlative that labeled a student "most likely to become a dictator." The recommendation rejects the state's request to suspend her teaching certificate for a year, more than a year after then-Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas publicly vowed to make sure she never taught again.

Judge Yolonda Green of the state Division of Administrative Hearings found that Watts violated a rule of the Principles of Professional Conduct for the Education Profession by failing to make a reasonable effort to protect the student from conditions harmful to learning or to the student's mental or physical health. But Green did not find that Watts intentionally embarrassed the student, and she concluded that removing Watts from the classroom was unnecessary, according to the Florida Phoenix, which reported the ruling Tuesday, Oct. 20.

What the state wanted and what the judge recommended

Despite Kamoutsas's original vow, the state ultimately sought a lesser penalty at the hearing. The table below compares the two.

Watts has no other negative notices on her record, the Phoenix reported.

How a classroom superlative became a state case

The case dates to the 2022-2023 school year, when students in Watts's world history class nominated classmates for end-of-year superlatives. In August 2025, the mother of a former student, then a ninth grader, told the State Board of Education that her son had been targeted for his conservative views. She held up a certificate reading "Ms. Watts' Class Superlatives 2023" and said a teacher had allowed students to label her son a "Naziphile" and then nominated him as most likely to become a dictator, WKMG reported. She spoke during a board meeting where members were questioning Alachua County School Board members about unrelated matters.

Her testimony spread quickly online. Attorney General James Uthmeier posted that if the facts bore out, the teacher should be immediately fired and never allowed to teach again in Florida, and he wrote to the Alachua County superintendent and School Board saying her certificate must be revoked. On Aug. 21, 2025, Kamoutsas named Watts on social media, announced a finding of probable cause and said he would "take every necessary action to ensure this teacher never teaches again."

Kamoutsas filed an administrative complaint with the Education Practices Commission, the state panel that can reprimand, fine, suspend or revoke teaching certificates. The complaint alleged Watts allowed students to disparage the student when they suggested he was a Hitler sympathizer and that she presented him a certificate based on comments she interpreted as conservative.

Alachua County Public Schools separately found probable cause and issued Watts a written reprimand and a one-day unpaid suspension and required sensitivity training, according to local news reports in November 2025.

What the record showed

The student's mother did not testify at the formal hearing. According to the ruling as described by the Phoenix, the superlatives were peer-nominated. The student photographed the whiteboard and sent it to his family group chat, noting that the only negative item on the board was the one he was voted for, and Watts later encouraged the class to nominate other students for the dictator superlative as well. The student said he felt embarrassed and did not walk to the front of the class to receive the award, and he did not raise the issue with Watts privately.

The student, who described himself as a history buff, said that based on his family's experience he did not want to be associated with dictators. He was also questioned about social media posts and a YouTube channel referencing communism and dictators, which he said were jokes or reflected his interest in history. He said he could not say that Watts intended to embarrass him and acknowledged the activity was voluntary.

On the Hitler remarks, one classmate testified that another student said the student and a classmate looked like they would sympathize with Hitler, and that Watts "shut it down" by telling students to stop because it was inappropriate, according to the ruling. Another student recalled no one calling the student a Hitler sympathizer in that moment. Watts testified she would have stopped the activity had she known a student was upset, and she sent an apology to the student's mother after learning he was unhappy.

A fight over due process

The case nearly ended once on procedural grounds. In October 2025, Watts's attorneys moved to dismiss, arguing the department had announced her guilt and penalty on social media before giving her notice of the allegations or the informal conference the law requires. In November, Kamoutsas asked to withdraw the complaint so he could investigate further and give Watts a chance to respond, and Green granted the request, sending the matter back to the Education Practices Commission. In her order, Green wrote that the commissioner "seems to suggest that probable cause was not providently found" for the original complaint, the News Service of Florida reported.

The case was later reopened, and a hearing was set for May 27 in Gainesville, WCJB reported in March.

The Florida Education Association, the statewide teachers union, said the ruling "strongly upholds Florida educators' fundamental right to due process" and argued Kamoutsas filed his complaint without the investigation or opportunity to respond that state law requires. "This ruling sends a clear message: Florida's educators have a right to due process," FEA President Andrew Spar said in a release. "The Commissioner made an unsubstantiated claim that Ms. Watts intentionally targeted a student for their political views, rallying the public against her before the facts were established."

Kamoutsas, who often called out local education officials on social media during his tenure, has since left the department and is now president of Polk State College. Henry Mack became education commissioner this summer.

What's next

Green's decision is a recommended order, not a final one. The Education Practices Commission will decide the final penalty and can accept, modify or reject the recommendation, within the limits Florida's administrative procedure law places on agencies that depart from a judge's findings. Either side may file exceptions to the recommended order before the commission acts. Until then, the written reprimand remains a recommendation, and the case that began with a viral clip at a State Board of Education meeting will end with a vote by a state panel.