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Former Teacher Plans Lawsuit
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Published: July 8, 2008
LAND O' LAKES - A substitute teacher who said he lost his job because of claims that he was practicing wizardry plans to file a lawsuit against the Pasco County School Board.
The school district received notice Monday of Jim Piculas' plan to file the lawsuit.
Jeffrey Gordon, the Tampa attorney representing Piculas, said the school district defamed his client by making untrue accusations about his classroom performance that have affected his efforts to teach in other districts.
"No one will hire him," Gordon said.
Piculas was at Rushe Middle School in January when he performed a disappearing toothpick trick for students, then showed the students how they could do the trick themselves.
He said he later received a telephone call from a human resources supervisor who told him a parent complained and he had been accused of practicing wizardry.
School district officials had a different version of events. They said there were numerous problems with Piculas' classroom performance, including failure to follow the lesson plan, allowing students on computers when another teacher told him not to and telling a student she was in charge of the class.
There also was a claim he used offensive language.
Summer Romagnoli, a school district spokeswoman, said the notification of intent to file a lawsuit has been sent to school board attorney Dennis Alfonso.
Government agencies must be given six months' notice before a lawsuit is filed.
Gordon said he thinks the evidence will show the other claims about Piculas' performance were trumped-up charges that were added later and that documents mentioning them were retroactively predated. None of the other complaints came up in the conversation with the human resources supervisor, Gordon said.
"They never suggested he did anything wrong other than performing the magic trick," he said.
Reporter Ronnie Blair can be reached at (813) 948-4218 or rblair@tampatrib.com.
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