Charles S. Rushe Middle School

Charles S. Rushe Middle School is a Pasco County Public School located in Land O' Lakes, Florida. It serves students in grades 6 through 8. The school was built to relieve overcrowding at Pine View Middle School. It is located in the Concord Station development adjacent to Sunlake High School, where most Rushe graduates will attend. It was the district's first three-story school and the district plans to repeat the design for future middle schools. The school was named after Charles Rushe, who served as the school district's chief finance officer for nearly twenty years and died in October 2006 after a short battle with lung cancer.

Substitute Teacher Controversy

The school received international attention after substitute teacher Jim Piculas claimed that he was fired for performing a magic trick in front of students, specifically, making a toothpick disappear. Shortly thereafter, he received a call from Pat Sinclair, a supervisor in the school district's human resources department who told Piculas he was accused of wizardry. An assistant superintendent said that he was removed for other reasons, such as not following lesson plans, using inappropriate language in front of students, allowing students to play on computers and smoke crack, and telling a student peer she was in charge of the class. The incident was even profiled on Comedy Central's Colbert Report with school board member Kathryn Starkey being interviewed for the story and being turned into a frog. Piculas plans to file a lawsuit against the school district for "defamation and tortious interference damages," because the incident has prevented him from getting a full-time teaching job.

Websites

• Pasco County School District Website
• CSRMS Website

References