Florida Teacher Fired After Refusing To Comply With 'No Zeros' Policy

A Florida teacher has been let go from her position after she refused to comply with her school's 'No Zeros' policy that says students can receive half-credit for assignments they didn't hand in, WPTV reports

Diane Tirado has worked as a teacher for years, but she recently started a new positions at West Gate K-8 School in Port St. Lucie last month as an eighth grade U.S. history teacher. 

Tirado says she first learned about her new school's 'No Zeros' policy when she assigned a project to her students and gave them two weeks to complete it. When several students didn't hand anything in, she was surprised to learn the students would receive 50% credit regardless of whether they had handed anything in as laid out in the West Gate student and parent handbook. 

The policy, printed inside the handbook in red lettering, reads: "NO ZEROS - LOWEST POSSIBLE GRADE IS 50%." 

Tirado says she went to to administrators to find out what happened if students don't turn anything in. 

"'We give them a 50.' I go, 'Oh, we don't.' This is not kosher,'" Tirado told the news station. 

Tirado posted a photo of the message she left on the whiteboard that read, "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. <3 Mrs. Tirado" 

Tirado was let go from the school on Sept 14. There was no reason listed for her termination in the letter from her principal, because she was still in her probationary period. 

"You were right about not giving people 50s because why would you give them half credit for doing nothing?" wrote one student.

The school district provided a statement to the station saying in part: "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."

In a follow-up post on Facebook, Tirado wrote that she took a stand because she believed the school's policy was ridiculous. 

"Teaching should not be this hard. Teachers teach content, children do the assignments to the best of their ability and teachers grade that work based on a grading scale that has been around a very long time. Teachers also provide numerous attempts to get the work collected so they can give a child a grade. By nature, most teachers are loving souls who want to see students succeed. We do above and beyond actual teaching to give them the support they need. Are we perfect? NO. We make mistakes like all other human beings, but I know teachers work their butts off to help children to be the best people they can be!!!"



Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content