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School Board Delays Vote On Teacher's Firing

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By RONNIE BLAIR

rblair@tampatrib.com

Published: February 19, 2009

LAND O' LAKES - The Pasco County School Board will hold off on deciding whether to fire a Weightman Middle School teacher with a history of excessive absences.

Attorneys in the case submitted additional written arguments and case-law citations, including a 59-page supplement that arrived Monday, prompting board attorney Dennis Alfonso to recommend the board put off the vote, which was supposed to happen Tuesday evening.

The board now is set to vote March 3 on whether to fire science teacher Susan Gozo, who was suspended without pay after she missed 12 1/2 days in the first three months of the school year.

The board agreed to Alfonso's recommendation, though board member Kathryn Starkey expressed reservations about the length of the attorneys' written arguments.

"Didn't we ask them to keep it to a limit?" Starkey asked. "Isn't 59 pages excessive?"

Alfonso said limiting the length of the written submissions might provide an attorney with a reason for an appeal.

Gozo was placed on performance probation July 10 because of an "unsatisfactory record of attendance" and told if her attendance did not improve she could be fired, records show.

When the absences continued into the 2008-09 school year, Superintendent Heather Fiorentino recommended that the school board fire Gozo.

Gozo, who said the absences were because of chronic health problems, contested the recommendation. An appeal hearing before the school board was held Jan. 20.

Reporter Ronnie Blair can be reached at (813) 948-4218.

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