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Tobia is suspended from his teaching position because the staff helped him with grading

tabnews August 15, 2024
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Brevard County Commissioner John Tobia has been placed on paid administrative leave following allegations that he used county employees to grade papers and do other coursework for his teaching position at Valencia College, a school official said Wednesday.

The allegations came to light during a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation into allegations of misconduct against Tobia made by a former employee. No charges were filed in the case.

Tobia told FLORIDA TODAY that while staff helped him with some ancillary tasks related to his courses, such as entering grades into the college's online system, they never actually graded coursework.

He is currently running for Brevard County Supervisor of Elections after term limits prevented him from running for re-election to the county commission. He will face current Supervisor Tim Bobanic in next Tuesday's Republican primary.

Tobia is a lecturer at the college in Orlando, where he teaches history and political science in addition to his contract work. His teaching salary last year was $100,667, according to his most recent financial disclosure.

Employees at Tobias' district office told FDLE investigators in sworn interviews that they helped him with various tasks related to his work for the college, including grading coursework, checking his email, and other course-related tasks.

Carol Traynor, Valencia's senior public relations director, said in a statement Wednesday that Tobia has been placed on paid administrative duty while the college investigates the allegations.

“As of yesterday, Mr. Tobia is on leave and will receive his salary while we continue to review the situation,” Traynor said. He will not teach classes during the vacation period, she said. Classes begin on Monday.

Tobia provided FLORIDA TODAY with part of his leave of absence request from the college, noting that it was a temporary measure and “should not be considered a disciplinary action.”

“I appreciate Valencia College's commitment to educational integrity and trust that if the college investigates the exact same information as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the offices of two state attorneys general, the results will be identical,” Tobia said in a statement.

According to an FDLE report, Tobias's chief of staff told investigators that she logged into Tobias Valencia's email account and helped him grade papers, organize classes and handle other “follow-up matters.”

“Sometimes, when he was traveling and didn't have good reception, he would ask me to log into his Valencia email. When he had something important to do, he would ask me to check and I would help him correct his papers,” she said.

A parliamentary assistant in Tobias' office said he had also helped his boss with some study-related work, such as uploading a syllabus and helping him compare grades.

Tobia said his staff occasionally helped him enter grades into Valencia's online grading system, but stressed that he assigned all grades for his courses himself and no protected student information was disclosed.

Eric Rogers is a watchdog reporter for FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Rogers at 321-242-3717 or [email protected].

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