Mark your calendars. They actually fired a teacher in Florida!!!
June 5, 2008 - Rutha G. Scott, 54, a business teacher at Palm Beach Central High, was fired by the Palm Beach County School Board for placing a student in a dark storage room for five to 15 minutes on Feb. 1. She had previously been suspended for 71 days without pay for doing the same thing at Olympic Heights High in 2006.
Administrators cited her for "unprofessional conduct, failure to exercise the best professional judgment" and other charges.
DECISION TO FIRE May 28 - Additional detail from a previous story. Now we know what professional judgement she failed to exercise.
Scott, an award-winning teacher and former adviser for Future Business Leaders of American clubs, had taught for 22 years. Though she received satisfactory evaluations over the past decade from principals, she has received two written reprimands and a suspension for misconduct including harassment and insubordination, and was the subject of several investigations.----------
In 1998 while at Spanish River High, a colleague accused Scott of harassing her in front of students and faculty. In January 2001, she was given a written reprimand for showing an R-rated movie against her principal's wishes and failing to supervise students during lunch. In December 2001, an investigation was launched into allegations that Scott unloaded about her then-principal Geoff McKee to her students.
A month later, Scott was given a second written reprimand for making malicious statements about Spanish River High's administration and teachers, wearing a leather tube top to school and failing to follow school procedures.
In December 2005 while teaching at Olympic Heights High, Scott was accused of putting a student in a locked storage room for 40 to 50 minutes after he refused to remain seated and quiet while she administered a test. Scott told investigators that she did not intentionally lock the door and said the student was in the room for only 10 minutes.
In 2006, the school board voted to fire Scott, but later rescinded the termination and suspended her after a subsequent investigation revealed the closet was larger - 8 feet by 9 feet rather than 5 feet by 6 feet - than previously thought.
TT - Don't get your hopes up. They voted to fire her. She has appealed and will be given a hearing after which, if she loses, she can take the case to a labor board. If she loses there, an Administrative judge will hear the whole thing all over again. If she loses there, there is state court, followed by an appellate court, and finally the wholly-crackpot Florida Supreme Court.
In the meantime, folks, they will pay her salary and benefits. And if she pursues the case through the entire track, we'll know she's not paying for her attorney herself.
AND WE TAKE THIS BACK= But, gee, in the aftermath of the hugely reported teacher who conducted a Survivor-like vote to kick a five-year-old out of a classroom, this just sounds so -- responsible.
