Teacher fired for storage room punishment

WELLINGTON, Fla., June 5 (UPI) -- A Florida teacher has been fired for allegedly ordering a disobedient student to stay in a storage room for the second time in her career, school officials say.

The Palm Beach County School Board voted Wednesday to dismiss Rutha G. Scott, 54, from Palm Beach Central High in Wellington, Fla., after a probe revealed she made a student stay in an unlit storage room for at least five minutes Feb. 1, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported.

The firing comes two years after Scott was suspended from teaching for 71 days at Olympic Heights High near Boca Raton, Fla., for making a disobedient student spend time in a storage space.

"Rutha Scott's actions were an improper method of disciplining the student," Superintendent Art Johnson wrote in a termination recommendation.

Scott has said the allegations are untrue. Her attorney, Janice Jennings, said she and her client plan to "vigorously oppose" the accusations.