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Constantly tardy Pinellas teacher gets reprieve

 
Published April 8, 2014

Catherine Fievet, a teacher at Lynch Elementary School in St. Petersburg, was slated to be fired today.

In a memo to school board members, Superintendent Mike Grego said Fievet was tardy so often that, as of March 3, she had only been on-time 22 days this school year.

She also used her cell phone at least five times during class, and surfed websites like Facebook, Pinterest and the Huffing Post, also during class.

But Grego withdrew his recommendation for her dismissal at the start of Tuesday's school board meeting.

"We're working with the employee and her attorney," Grego said.

Fievet also has had issues with keeping track of important materials. "Ms. Fievet is a veteran teacher who cannot demonstrate effective planning or organizational skills," the memo reads.

She "lost or misplaced" Title I surveys; failed to enter homework and test grades in the first and second marking periods; and could not produce any grade book for the second nine weeks. Furthermore, Fievet had no documentation to support the grades she gave students.

Read the full list of allegations here.

Per a letter Grego sent to Fievet dated March 18, the teacher is entitled to a public hearing, so long as her request was received by April 7.