A 1,500-page personnel file spanning four decades of complaints is now shadowing Diana Moore's campaign for Orange County School Board District 3, with colleagues describing a teacher who made both students and fellow staff cry at school. Moore, a 66-year-old elementary school teacher who has worked at six schools since 1986, faces Susanne Peña in a November 3 runoff after the two topped a three-candidate primary in August.
The file, first detailed by Florida Politics and separately obtained by the Orlando Sentinel, documents a pattern that a principal once described as combative and aggressive. Complaints against Moore stretch back to 1992, when she received a directive for repeated tardiness, and continue through the most recent filings in spring 2025. The Sentinel reports Moore has been investigated repeatedly, suspended and reprimanded over the years, though she has had some punishments rescinded and says the criticism amounts to retaliation for her advocacy work.
Sand Lake Elementary Complaints Described as Most Recent Flashpoint
Orange County Public Schools conducted a months-long investigation into Moore's conduct at Sand Lake Elementary in 2025, according to the Sentinel. A testing coordinator at the school wrote in a March 2025 complaint that the amount of time and energy expelled on this one combative and aggressive individual, Ms. Moore, is interfering with the operation of the school — and, per Florida Politics, added that as a mother, it is hard to stomach the thought of someone like her working with children.
Other staff members described similar friction. Kathleen Phillips said she received daily emails from Moore telling her how to do her job and complaining about colleagues, and said other teachers forwarded her copies of rude emails Moore had sent, according to the Sentinel. Katie Schwartz said Moore challenged her authority and argued with her in front of students, while a school media specialist described Moore as argumentative, confrontational and disrespectful to colleagues. A kindergarten teacher at the school said Moore derailed several planning meetings with unprofessional behavior, and the Sentinel reports Moore also texted a teacher on maternity leave several times about classroom issues, leaving that teacher feeling extremely stressed and helpless. The testing coordinator also said Moore made it difficult to pull students from her class for required assessments, describing the overall effect on campus tone and climate as indescribably negative.
Moore Defends Her Record and Points to Union Fight
Moore has pushed back forcefully against the file's contents. In an email statement to Florida Politics, she emphasized that her state teaching certificate has never been suspended or revoked, adding that OCPS does not want me sitting on the Board because I ask questions they don't want asked and answered. She told the Sentinel that her reputation as a good teacher is being tainted because she speaks up, and said her tone is one of confidence and experience rather than hostility.
Moore declined an interview about her employment file but told the Sentinel she stood up for her beliefs and that recent complaints from colleagues were retaliation for a complaint she had filed against another teacher. She also points to support from her community, citing more than 75 cards and letters from parents and students, along with yearly evaluations rating her a highly effective instructor.
Older Complaints Span Playground Supervision to a Political T-Shirt
The file's older entries reach back decades. A Lake Como Elementary parent filed a complaint in 1996 after Moore left a child with another parent at Epcot following a school field trip, describing her attitude as uncaring and very unprofessional, the Sentinel reports. In 2000, Bonita Glester reported that Moore left students unsupervised on a playground at the same school, during which two students wrestled while she was out of sight.
In 2005, a parent filed a complaint alleging Moore forced their son to clean fecal matter from a classroom toilet and claimed she harassed the boy to the point that he did not want to go to school. Moore said she was unaware of the toilet's condition when she required the student to clean it and called the parent hostile; she received a written reprimand that was later expunged through arbitration. In 2018, Moore wore a political cartoon shirt during a first-grade class photo, prompting parent emails to the principal and a written reprimand that a union arbitration later ruled invalid.
A 2015 Union Ouster Still Follows Her
Moore's history extends beyond the classroom. She served as former president of the Orange teachers union before being removed from that post in 2015, after the national union determined she had defied the rules. According to WKMG, the American Federation of Teachers placed the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association into administratorship that July, concluding local leaders had flouted union rules, conducted unfair elections and refused assistance from state and national affiliates. American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten said at the time there is a need to restore transparency, restore order, restore democracy for the members, per the Sentinel's reporting.
Peña's Background and the Path to November
Moore's opponent brings a different résumé to the race. Susanne Peña served as President of the Florida Association for Bilingual Education from 2023 to 2025 and worked as a dual-language project director at the University of Central Florida during more than 20 years in education, according to Ballotpedia. Peña told the Sentinel that the complaints in Moore's file were deeply concerning and said anyone seeking public office must meet high standards of professionalism, accountability and respectful treatment of employees.
Certified primary results show Peña led the August 18 nonpartisan primary with 45.7% of the vote, or 9,989 votes, while Moore received 29%, advancing both to the November 3 runoff, per Ballotpedia. Despite their sharp disagreements over Moore's conduct record, both candidates have identified finding ways to pay teachers more as a key goal if elected, the Sentinel reports.
Certificate Intact Despite District Discipline
Moore's active teaching certificate is not itself in dispute. Under Florida administrative statutes enforced by the state's Department of Education, local school district reprimands do not automatically restrict a teaching credential — only the quasi-judicial Education Practices Commission holds the statutory authority to suspend or revoke a Florida Educator Certificate, according to the Florida Department of Education. That distinction explains why Moore's certificate has remained active even as her personnel file accumulated investigations and reprimands over the decades.
Whoever Wins Inherits a District Under Strain
Whichever candidate prevails will join a board already reshaped by this year's elections. Angie Gallo won the countywide race for Orange County School Board Chair with 59% of the vote over Alicia Farrant, according to Central Florida Public Media, shifting leadership of the eight-member board toward a Democrat-backed majority. That same outlet reported that Superintendent Maria F. Vazquez plans to retire at the end of the 2026-27 school year, meaning the newly elected board will help lead the search for the district's next chief executive.
The stakes are considerable. Orange County Public Schools ranks as the eighth-largest public school district in the United States and the fourth-largest in Florida, serving nearly 208,000 students across 214 schools, according to the district. Yet the district is also facing severe budgetary pressure: WESH reported this week that Orange County Public Schools could lay off nearly 100 teachers amid declining enrollment tied to Florida's expanded school voucher program and shifting demographics — a fiscal squeeze the District 3 winner will confront almost immediately after taking office.
