A South Florida teacher said she was fired after she refused to give a student a 50 percent grade on homework that was not turned in, CNN reported.
Port St. Lucie teacher Diana Tirado said students should not get credit for work that was never handed in.
When several students did not turn in their assignments, Tirado said she found out about a “no zeros” policy, in which the lowest possible grade allowed to be given is 50 percent. The policy is reflected in the student and parent handbook, Tirado said.
Tirado said she asked administrators, "What if they don't turn it in?”
She said the reply she received was, “We'll give them a 50.”
Tirado was terminated on Sept. 14, but there's no clause mentioned in the letter from the principal since she was still in her probationary period.
On her last day of school, Tirado wrote this message on a 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."
Tirado sent a picture of it through a class app and her students responded.
The chief information officer for West Gate said in a statement:
"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 to zero and grade point averages from four to zero."
Tirado said she was told never to give a student a zero.
Source: WFTV