PORT ST. LUCIE, FL. (THECOUNT) — Diane Tirado, a former eighth-grade teacher at West Gate K-8 School in Florida, claims she was fired because she disagreed with a school policy that states, “NO ZEROS – LOWEST POSSIBLE GRADE IS 50%.”
Tirado was issued a pink slip after she contested the policy, “no students can receive a zero for failing to complete an assignment,’ according to reports.
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Tirado, a history teacher working at West Gate K-8 School in Port St. Lucie only over the last month, claims that after finding several students failing to complete their assignment, she learned about a school policy in the student handbook that states:
“NO ZEROS – LOWEST POSSIBLE GRADE IS 50%”
In a farewell message, the teacher wrote on her whiteboard:
“Bye Kids, Mrs. Tirado loves you and wishes you the best in life! I have been fired for refusing to give you a 50% for not handing anything in.”
A spokeswoman for St. Lucie Public Schools denied Tirado’s claims, issuing a statement saying she was employed as a “teacher on probationary status, and was terminated shortly after one month of classroom instruction.”
“There is no District or individual school policy prohibiting teachers from recording a grade of zero for work not turned in. The District’s Uniform Grading System utilizes letter grades A-F, numerical grades 100-0 and grade point averages from 4-0.” source
During an interview with a local reporter, Tirado produced an official school document that read in red ink, “NO ZEROS – LOWEST POSSIBLE GRADE IS 50%.”
West Gate K-8 School is located at 1050 NW Cashmere Blvd, in Port St. Lucie, FL.
While the grading scale does show the grade “0” for “incomplete, Tirado claims she was told to never give a student a “zero.” She now hopes this controversy will motivate school officials to change or clarify the policy.