PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (WSVN) — A Florida teacher said she was fired shortly after she refused to implement a “no zero” grading policy.
Diane Tirado shared her final message to her students on Facebook.
“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. 💓 Mrs. Tirado”
According to WPTV, Tirado, who is a long time teacher, recently started in a new position as a history teacher at West Gate K-8 School in Port St. Lucie.
Tirado said she assigned her students a project, giving them two weeks to complete it. However, when several students didn’t hand anything in, Tirado found out she was unable to give them a zero.
According to the school’s handbook, the lowest possible grade teachers can give for an assignment is 50 percent.
“What if they don’t turn anything in?” Tirado said she asked administrators. “‘We give them a 50.’ I go, ‘Oh, we don’t.’ This is not kosher.’”
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Tirado was terminated on Sept. 14. However, her termination letter does not list a reason as to why she was fired.
However, she hopes to start a policy change.
“I’m so upset because we have a nation of kids that are expecting to get paid and live their life just for showing up, and it’s not real,” she said.
A spokesperson for the school 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 100-0 and grade point averages from 4-0.”
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