Teachers at Bishop Martin High School are Sent Home
There has been a turn of events for the worst for four teachers at the Bishop Martin High School in Orange Walk, whose status for some time now remain undetermined. This afternoon, Avid Briceño, Manuel Tzul, Emil Quetzal and Carmen Trejo, their spokesperson, were asked to leave the school compound immediately. The request came via letters signed by board chairman, Ian Cal, and says “we kindly request that you cease participation in all Bishop Martin High School activities until otherwise advised in writing….you will not be allowed to be present at the school premises with immediate effect.” the letter creates further confusion for the status of the teachers since the school management and board have been unable to clear up their employment status. News Five spoke via phone today with Carmen Trejo.
On the Phone: Carmen Trejo, Spokesperson for Disgruntled Teachers
“We can no longer be allowed to be present at the school with immediate effect; they also advised us to cease and desist from any actions or pronouncements that can negatively affect the orderly resolution of our employment status and they are vigorously pursuing resolution to this issue. So we had to leave the campus immediately. It doesn’t state here if we are going to get paid. So we are left in limbo with that and that’s what we will have to investigate and find out from the board. The management was not given a letter like how we were. So how come we have been asked to leave the school, but the management who made the error is still present at school when they are the ones who are responsible for all of this. This is why we said it in our first media interview that we could be fired any day and that’s why we were asking parents and students to support us because we knew this could happen; we could be asked to leave. This letter is still vague. I don’t know if they are telling me to wait, but there is no time limit as to when this could be resolved.”
The teachers are to meet with representatives from the Belize National Teachers Union and the C.E.O. Deborah Domingo of the Ministry of Education on Friday. News Five has also received copy of a memo from the school’s board that was placed on the files of those staff members who supported the disgruntled teachers and refused to substitute for their classes.
