Diane Tirado, a former teacher at West Gate K-8 School in Port St. Lucie, says she was fired for refusing to follow the school’s “no-zero” policy and give a 50 percent grade to students who didn’t turn in their assignments, according to a report from West Palm Beach television station WPTV. The school’s “no zero” policy requires teachers to give students no less than a 50-percent grade on assignments even if they are not turned in.

Tirado shared a picture on her Facebook page of a note she left on a whiteboard to her students saying, “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.” The photo went viral and was shared and viewed more than 1,600 times.

Tirado, told WPTV that she assigned a notebook project, which students had two weeks to complete. According to Tirado, a few students did not turn in the assignment and she gave them “zeros.” This is when the school snapped back on Tirado about the “no zero policy.”

“What if they don’t turn anything in?” Tirado said she asked the administrators. “‘We give them a 50.’ I go, ‘Oh, we don’t. This is not kosher.’”

Tirado also told WPTV that she has been a teacher for 17 years and that she loves teaching. The school had her hired in August and Tirado says that she was fired on September 14. Right now, it’s her word versus school officials. The district declined to say why Tirado was terminated.

Kerry Padrick, the chief communications officer for St. Lucie Public Schools, told WPTV in a statement Tirado was terminated “shortly after one month of classroom instruction.” It was also stated that there is no reasoning mentioned in the letter from the principal since she was still in her probationary period.

The statement also says that “There is no District or individual school policy prohibiting teachers from recording a grade of zero for work not turned in.” It also states, “The District’s Uniform Grading System utilizes letter grades A-F, numerical grades 100-0 and grade point averages from 4-0.” Nevertheless, Tirado claims she was advised to never give out a zero.

Olympic Heights P.E. teacher Mr. Micah Stucky feels that Tirado should not have had to give into the “no-zero” policy she alleges the school had mandated in order to keep her job. “It’s her class, her prerogative. She has the right to conduct and grade her class how she likes,” Stucky commented.

Tirado strongly disagrees with the “no-zero” policy, stating, “A grade in Mrs. Tirado’s class is earned. 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.

“The reason I took on this fight was because it was ridiculous,” Tirado posted on her Facebook page. “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.”