School counselor fired for failures, board says
The Broward School Board agreed Tuesday to fire a school guidance counselor who failed at her job at five different schools over seven years.
The district found Paula Rosalee Sinclair routinely placed students in the wrong class, failed to track the progress of underperforming students, gave parents and teachers wrong information about student schedules and failed to provide counseling to improve student behavior.
Sinclair could not be reached for comment. But a district complaint shows she took medical leaves to avoid confrontations with administrators for her poor performance, and then transferred to new schools.
“The performance concerns were noted by school administrators; the employee was afforded certain rights within the collective bargaining agreement,” said district spokeswoman Tracy Clark. “It plays into the length of time she’s been at the district.”
The Broward Union declined ment.
Sinclair began her career in the school district in 2007 at Walter C. Young Middle in Pembroke Pines. There, administrators said, she was told she needed to work on her time management skills, her understanding of School Board policy and to accurately use standardized tests.
The following year, Sinclair transferred to New River Middle in Fort Lauderdale, where her performance issues continued even though she was provided assistance.
Sinclair then transferred to Indian Ridge Middle in Davie in 2009.
From the beginning of the school year, Sinclair was cited for failing to perform her job duties. According to Teachers to com- the complaint, Sinclair did not inform teachers of student schedule changes, made repeated mistakes on schedules and enrolled students in the wrong courses. Parents, too, complained and said Sinclair gave them wrong information or did not return calls.
At one point, the school outsourced Sinclair’s duties to another office.
Sinclair filed for medical leave and the following year transferred to Northeast High in Oakland Park where the same problems continued. She took a personal leave of absence for a year and then returned to her last school: Western High in Davie.
Sinclair worked at Western for two years, where she was cited for excessive absenteeism and placed on a performance improvement plan.
This year, after failing to fix her problems, the district moved to terminate her.