The Bermuda Union of Teachers will hold a general meeting today at CedarBridge Academy for its members. The meeting was scheduled before last Friday?s incident at the high school.

On Friday teachers at the Island?s largest high school sent students home in the morning when they held an extended meeting to discuss the Ministry of Education?s decision to allow a student return to the classroom after he was suspended.

The 14-year-old boy made vulgar comments about a teacher earlier in the morning and received a five day suspension. His parents appealed the decision and the Ministry decided to allow him to return to school within 30 minutes of his suspension. Teachers felt the Ministry was not taking their concerns seriously, especially since Chief Education Officer Dr. Joseph Christopher refused to meet with them during the meeting, despite the fact that he was on school property.

However, BUT?s president Lisa Trott said the meeting being held at the Ruth Seaton James Auditorium at 4.15 p.m. today is not a direct result of the incident. She said that the incident will be discussed but that the meeting was scheduled before the suspension. She added that teachers had other topics they wished to address also. She would not go into the other issues that are planned for the meeting, she said she preferred to hold the meeting before commenting on its content to the public.