Excelsior teacher stopped from going to work

It seems a paperwork slip up created some confusion this morning at Excelsior High School when teacher Brian Plummer attempted to go back to work. On Monday News Five reported that Plummer, who had been dismissed in December had received a letter from the school’s pro-tem board informing him he had been reinstated. However, this morning when he tried to go to work, he was turned back by principal Mario Rodriguez. Rodriguez told News Five he had not received notification or copy of the letter and as far as he was concerned, the situation had not changed. Rodriguez says however, later in the morning he received a faxed copy of the letter signed by the chairperson of the pro-tem board. Rodriguez says now that he has been officially informed about Plummer’s reinstatement, the teacher is more than welcome to return. Plummer says his termination letter offered no explanation about why he was being fired, but he believes it had to do with the fact that he publicly endorsed a controversial report that criticized the high school. He did not take the issue lightly but hired an attorney and enlisted the help of the Belize National Teachers’ Union to get back his job. He says he was most concerned about his students having to change teachers in the middle of the year.