Posted on 11/16/2006 12:17:08 PM PST by em2vn
LARGO - A veteran Gibbs High School teacher with a long history of work troubles had falsified hundreds of student ballots in an attempt to get her niece elected homecoming queen in September.
A wave of chuckles rose during Tuesday's School Board meeting, where Lerner and other board members were asked to approve a 25-day unpaid suspension for the teacher, Sharion Thurman, 56.
So why not fire the teacher, who earns more than $50,000 a year? Her 20-year record includes numerous reprimands for poor judgment, insubordination and misconduct.
Superintendent Clayton Wilcox said firing was an option. But he looked at Thurman's file and noticed that the last discipline she received was a 2005 reprimand for making "negative references." He noted that the board has urged him to use progressive discipline with employees.
A suspension, he argued, was the next step up from a reprimand. He said Thurman will lose more than $7,000 in pay. Had she lied about an academic issue, he said, she would have been fired.
"I think the administration let us down on this one," said board chairwoman Carol Cook, who wondered why Thurman never received a suspension before.
The case illustrates how much the district is sometimes willing to tolerate from an employee. It also was part of an unusual crop of discipline cases Tuesday.
They included:
- Acquilla Bowers, 32, a school bus driver who district officials say repeatedly cut off another driver, then threw a can of air freshener at the driver's car - with 50 students aboard.
- David Bell, a teacher's assistant at Calvin Hunsinger School who, after being punched in the chest by a student, ran after the student and slammed him to the floor, injuring the student's knee.
(Excerpt) Read more at obscurestore.com ...
they caught her, but can't do anything about the Dems in new mexico.
See "Election", a classic 1999 film with Matthew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon.
Just the actions of another good liberal, dues-paying DemoRat in our fine government re-education system. No surprise...probably won't be long before back-alley politics is a required course for high school graduation. (Even though you cannot read or write)....
Dunno how they fit all those kids in one car.
David Bell, a teacher's assistant at Calvin Hunsinger School who, after being punched in the chest by a student, ran after the student and slammed him to the floor, injuring the student's knee.
Yeah, OK, it's easy to say that the teacher should not be acting that way, but on the other hand, neither should the kid. I want to know what they did about the kid.
Well at least they've stopped hiring Hit Men to settle local Beauty Contets in Texas.
"I want to know what they did about the kid."
You beat me to it.
I forgot about the Obscure Store ... there are some other rather interesting articles in there, one a take-off on what I think is one of the best James Bond lines ever: "as long as the collars and cuffs match."
Try it again figuring on a 180 day work year and it makes sense. Also explodes the myth about low teacher pay.
You obviously never lived in the 60s, when stuffing a VW Bug was all the rage.
Car hell ... I'm wondering how she got 50 students into the can, and then managed to throw it at the car. Superhuman strength, or just the PCP talking?
The Democratic Machine in action.
It's not that low, but not that high either based on housing costs in that area.
$35 / hr is decent pay, easily supplemented with tutoring and summer work. Annualized for comparison with full time employment, it's $72,800. Not bad for the Tampa / St. Pete area.
I think we have a stupid teacher here. So, a stupid person, with behavior problems, working 180 days out of a 365-day year, and earning $50,000 a year for it ...
I don't care how expensive the housing is in her area -- she's doing better than most folks.
Not disputing that.
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