A Florida teacher says she was fired when she refused to give students credit for homework they never turned in.

When a group of eighth-grade students never handed in their assignment, social studies teacher Diane Tirado ignored what she described as a “No Zero” policy at West Gate K-8 School in Port St. Lucie.

“I was not allowed to give anything lower than a 50,” Tirado, 52, told The Post.

For the first assignment of the semester, Tirado asked that her students keep a journal, the way a 15th century explorer would, for two weeks. They were required to take down notes about historical events and draw maps in what the teacher of 17-years called an “explorer’s notebook.”

But parents soon started to complain about what they said was too hefty a homework load, Tirado said.

“I got called down to the principal’s office because parents were not happy with me,” she said. “It was ruining my life for weeks.”

It was during one such visit to the principal’s office that Tirado learned about the “No Zero” policy, she said.

But when a group in her class didn’t hand the homework in, she said she didn’t think they deserved any credit, let alone 50 percent.

“I’m used to kids not handing in work… but then chasing them until the report cards are in to make sure they make it up,” with extra credit, she said. “But I don’t give a grade for nothing.”

She was fired on Sept. 14. less than two months after getting hired at the school. There’s no official cause mentioned in the letter from the principal, which she says is because she was still on her probationary period at the school.

Regardless, she said she knows why she was let go.

“I loudly bucked the system,” she said. “I refused to do their policy. I guess you would call that defiance.”

On her last day, she left her students with the following message on their 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,” she added.

The image of her final message, which she posted to Facebook Saturday, has been shared over 1,000 times.

“It’s absurd to give someone something for nothing and to do that is creating a future that is pretty darn bleak,” she said.

“We’re creating monsters out of our children,” she added. “We give them too much.. people that experience that kind of childhood then that’s what you want, you’re entitled for the rest of your life.”

The school, through a spokesman, denied that it has a “no zero” policy to WPTV.

https://www.wptv.com/news/region-st-lucie-county/port-st-lucie/teacher-pens-whiteboard-goodbye-to-students-over-no-zero-grading-policy

“There is no district or individual school policy prohibiting teachers from recording a grade of zero for work not turned in,” the spokesman said.

But Tirado says the policy is outlined in the West Gate student and parent handbook, which says in bright red capital letters, “NO ZERO’S – LOWEST POSSIBLE GRADE IS 50%,” according to an image she provided to The Post.

The spokesman said that “some classroom teachers and school faculties” discussed the range of points for each grade and came to the conclusion that an F would equal a 50 to 59.