The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

TEACHERS at CV Bethel Senior High School will return to the classroom today, one week after classes were suspended because they were left “traumatised” after a marine biology teacher was reportedly injured in an altercation with two male students.

Belinda Wilson, president of the Bahamas Union Teachers, yesterday said plans were in place for administrators to meet with teachers, ahead of an assembly to reinforce all rules, regulations and consequences to students.

Mrs Wilson said union officials will be monitoring both the meeting and the assembly “very closely.”

She further revealed that union officials have made several recommendations to the Ministry and Department of Education concerning the well-being and redeployment of the teacher involved in the altercation.

Mrs Wilson told The Tribune: “Teachers across the country and the BUT stand strongly behind the teacher in this matter. He is still being monitored by a doctor and we are awaiting his recovery.”

Mrs Wilson added: “Last week teachers spent an enormous amount of time devising a health, safety and discipline plan that is expected to be implemented immediately.”

She said teachers are committed to assisting the school’s principal and administration moving forward to ensure that this new plan is carried out on a daily basis, contributing directly to the safety of the teachers and students alike.

Mrs Wilson implored education officials to “keep up” their end of all agreements made in the wake of the incident.

Teachers at the school have stayed out of the classroom since the incident last Monday.

Last Wednesday, officer-in-charge of the East Street South police station, Superintendent Roberto Goodman, said the matter was under active investigation. He could not say at the time if there would be charges against anyone.

He said the investigation was somewhat slow-moving as it involved mostly minors who could only be interviewed by police in the presence of parents or guardians.

However, he said police found that the incident was not as severe as portrayed by social media reports that alleged the male instructor was left “bloodied” by a group of students.

“We are actively investigating the incident,” Supt Goodman said last week. “We are still doing preliminaries. I was able to speak to some students today, but I can’t say yet if there will be any charges. I also interviewed the teacher and saw some of the students.

“But it’s not like how social media said. It wasn’t a bloody scene as was said.”

Supt Goodman confirmed that two male students were taken into custody after the incident, but were released pending investigation.

Acting Education Director Sharon Poitier said officials were waiting for a report from CV Bethel’s principal before it conducted its own investigations.