Petition to keep teacher approaches 500 names
(CNS): Just one week after CNS revealed that a popular teacher had lost her job from a local school because she is having a baby and is not married to her partner, a petition asking the school board to reconsider that decision has reach almost 500 signatures. Many parents raised their concerns that Bryony Platt, a well-liked experienced member of staff who has been at the school several years, would not be returning for the next academic term because of issues in her personal life and nothing to do with her competency as a teacher. Parents and supporters of Platt commented extensively on CNS in support as well as on the petition site.
Since the report was posted last Thursday more than 300 people commented on CNS about the issue. Although most were in support of Platt, some commenters agreed with the decision.
However, although she was on contract at a private school, the decision not to renew her employment, depending on the original terms of her contract, may fall foul of the gender discrimination law.
Related article on CNS:
Popular-teacher-loses-job-over-pregnancy
Category: Local News
it is amazing to read so many comments of people still living in the dark age. It is a shame that this woman got terminated for this, and our country should never allow this to happen. SHAME
So observing Christian principles = living in the dark age. You are confusing light with darkness. No wonder this country is in such moral and social decline.
A woman wants to bring a child into this world and to be a mother and she loses her job over it. Ya. That is the dark ages and it has nothing to do with Christian principles.
So is McKeeva a good christian???
Does he observe Christian principles?
Talk about a storm in a teacup. Prep is a religious institution, chumps. You gonna start a petition to keep a Catholic priest that has got a woman pregnant next? Get real.
When they stop dipping into public funds, we will all stop, can you call upon your almighty to help you from stop taking secular funds.
Why would the CPHS Board care about this petition? It is an irrelevance. The thought seems to be that youcan force the school to discard core principles because some other people who signed a petition have different principles. I'll bet that the majority of those 'petitioners' have nothing to do with the school anyway. All they have in common is hostility to Christian principles.
Christian principles?? how dare you speak on behalf of christians. I am absolutely disgusted by the treatment of Miss Bryony and I am a christian and a prep parent.
CIS must be thinking what a wonderful marketing coup just fell on their lap.
I can see the poster campaign now "Choosing between CIS and Cayman Prep? Do you want your child to receive a 21st century education or a 17th century one?"
Prep has a record of quality education – you surely cannot be referring to Prep when speaking of a 17th century education.
You have not read the article at the top have you? Education fettered by such narrow minded religious bigotry belongs in the past.
There is no bigotry involved, and Christian morality belongs to the past, present and future. If you don't like it, find another school.
I tired of all the talking about this woman now. Give me all the thumbs down you want to but as I see it, she signed a contract which stipulated certain conduct, she has gone against the conduct that her contract stipulated, irrespecitve of how archaic you all might feel their rules are, they are still their rules. She is working out her contract, after which it will not be renewed. End of story. All the parents who complain about the rules at Prep school, why don't you remove your children, potential parents do not send your children there if you don't agree with their rules. You all think you will be hurting the Board of Governors? No dear, there is a long waiting list. Stop trying to dictate to the Board of Governors. If there are rules in place, what message would the Board of Governor's be sending if they simply turn a blind eye to this due to the pressure of people signing a petition, most of which do not recognize or respect the Christian principles. XXXX
Luckily there is CIS- I'm not subjecting my kids to these nutcases
Go for it! No one should send their children to a school if they disagree with the principles of the school. I hope the rest of you follow suit.
Prep Parent
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/mike-judge/atheist-teacher-dismissed-religious-assembly_b_2549478.html
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/02/04/catholic-teacher-fired-pregnancy/5208601/
http://foxnewsinsider.com/2014/04/16/debate-simmers-after-seattle-catholic-school-fires-principal-who-married-partner
http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/05/11/discrimination-case-pits-transgender-rights-against-those-of-a-religious-school-after-teacher-fired-for-changing-gender/
Happens all over…
02;01
Yes it happens all over the World, and people on this site condeming the school for their Christian principals, cant do, or say anything about it where they come from.
They want to completley take over these little Islands and make them as sinful as where they come from.
When these people come here they are well aware of our Christian principals.
Oh, how intolerance and injustice has been justified throughout history by the qualification of “these people”. And how we are the first to scream “injustice” when others refer to us as “those people”. There is only “people” and we all belong. Is there something in the Bible about “casting the first stone”? Perfectly acceptable if you are only casting it towards “these / those people”? I'm sure Jesus would agree.
If only the poster was being witty referring to "Christian principals", but alas wit seems to be aligned with us sinners. . .
You've lost me.
and inability to spell.
CPHS has every right to enforce it's code of conduct and terms of contract. Regardless of this woman's teaching abilities she clearlyviolated the terms of her employment, of which she was aware. A lesson she is obviously teaching her students is that having illegitimate children is fine to do which is not a lesson this school wants to be taught! Good on CPHS!
So if I introduce a policy saying none of my employees should e Christians, that would be ok?
No, of course not. Completely irrelevant.
Are you really that stupid? You are missing the fundamental point that this is not an arbitrary requirement reflecting some personal prejudice but is instead based on the core Christian moral values on which the church schoolis expressly run and on which basis the teacher was hired in the first place. You on the other hand would be discriminating purely on the basis of religion.
Universal christian principles that can not be tested equally to all employees, unless you believe in setting up cameras in all thier bedrooms and probing thier mind through hypnosis. The standards you set are in-human, and are usually used to maniplulate crowds, not elighten them.
How ridiculous. Clearly it would be inappropriate for the Board to set up cameras in people's bedrooms and it is equally obvious that it could not ignore such a flagrant breach. Nothing "inhuman" about that. If it did, it could never claim any standards again and anything would go. But that is your real point, isn't it?
I'm confused what's all the fuss is about? Her contract expired! or is it the norm that you come on contract and then you are expected to stay? What I would like to know, was a caymanian trained for the position? Immigration?
There is a huge oversupply of Caymanians wanting to be teachers – not!
Wanting to be teachers yes, qualified not so much.
Another example of the church still living in the dark ages and continuing to carry out the crusades. She's better off teaching at an institution truly interested in equipping children to be open minded, critical thinkers.
Best of luck to you Bryony
Well, what do you expect from a culture that worships the hateful god of the bible? Our list of people damned to hell is waning as we learn to live with diversity but I'm still told of preachers trashing unwed mothers, suicides, lesbians, non-believers.. . .
If this had been a remark against Alden or McKeeva, it probably would not have even been published. As it is, it is a remark against our Creator. You don't even know him. Who gave you life and who gave you your children? The Tooth Fairy?
I for one believe in a Supreme God … maybe not like the God defined in the Bible. However as a Caymanian, I am not going to deny that there is someone higher than me and there are universal principles. I'm not that dumb! I have been stuck in a tugboat and seen some huge waves bigger than me and I tell ya I am God-fearing. I am not quick to condemn Christians and any other God faiths because I understand people choose organized religion because they have no other way to cope with the evils and hardships of life.
Clearly you are not a Christian or have no clue about Christian principles and if you think you are, check yourself. The Church does not move with the world or what is popular or what is "in". The church applies principles based on the Bible so this is another example of the church standing by its princples and refused to be of the world just because they are in the world. Slowly over time, Christian morals and values are being eroded by the world. All of a sudden now they are teaching in schools that a family can consist of two moms or two dads, where in the Bible does it talk about Adam and Steve or Eve and a madam? They are teaching our kids that it is okay to have sex and not be married because everybody does it and as long as the two people are in love. These are worldly concepts, things which have become the norm in the world but will NEVER be the norm in Christian principles. Christian principles DO NOT change like fashion, one era it is in and the next it is out. If Ms. Bryony is so good then she will have no problem finding a job at another school that does not apply Christian pinrciples. CIS doesn't give a hoot about ones religion, perhaps she can try there.
Help me out here. If the Church does not move with the world but applies principles in line with the Bible, how does it reconcile the inconsistent teachings of the Old and New testament? Because if you were applying the Old Testament here, they should be stoning the woman, not dismissing her. But if you were applying the New Testament, shouldn't you be forgiving her her transgressions?
You are all confused. The church is based on the new covenant which is contained in the New Testament. Nowhere does the NT condone immorality. Forgiveness does not mean that there are no consequences for your actions or no room for discipline. Any sensible parent understands that. For instance, do you think "forgiveness" means that an abused wife should keep accepting abuse rather than terminating the relationship? Do you think that no employee should ever be dismissed because of "forgiveness", or is that simply a convenient, cynical ploy?
OHHHHH, its a NEW set of rules, much like the new persepective religion has to take when science proves that the Earth is not just 6000 years old. Keep changing your rules and sooners or later the populous will figure out what trash you have been preaching for centuries.
LOL. You are a total ignoramus. Even the "populous" will recognise that. No rules have "kept changing". The NT is what has always been the basis for the Christian Church.
Which is it – are yor criticising the church for keeping the same rules or for supposedly changing them all the time? Make up your mind. You are making no sense.
You can't win with you people. When the Catholic Church shunts child molester priests from parish to parish no one says that it shows love and forgiveness for the priest, but instead you say that it is unwilling to hold its own accountable.
If forgiveness means what you think it means then we should empty Northward and never have another sentence pronounced upon anyone.
Contract, expired what is all the fuss about, move on
Because the contract was not renewed based upon a subjective religous opinion from a "private" school that recieves government money that was collected from all of us, and more than some of us do not want thier tax dollars going to support some christian cult culture that can be manipulated to fire, deter, or demote people who do not agree with thier somtime overboding and over assuming nature. It is not illigal to have children out of wedlock, but a christian faction would like that to be true.
It is not a subjective religious opinion though. It is a core Christian principle which is clearly set out in the Bible
it's not "thier" but rather "their" : and thank you for telling us that it is not illegal to have children out of wedlock. as most of us "christians" were not aware of that.
So stop acting like it is and shunning innocent people as if they are not deserving…bastard.
Curious choice of epithets!
Just pointing to the slippery slope when dealing with Christians and thier unwelcome view of Utopia that is used to manipulate policies as is being done here from schools that are funded by governement taxes. -didn't spell check, thought you might get bored with reading comprehension and need something todo…
Who said anything about it being illegal? Do you really believe that you can only be dismissed for doing things which are actually illegal?
No, I am certain you can be discharged for not drinking the kool-aid, but I will take you to court before I have a sip.
The CPHS Board of Governors need to support what they have done with a statement. There is no transparancy or accountability. The statement they did issue raises more questions than answers. If they have made a mistake have the courage to admit that and change position. That is what Jesus would have done.
They haven't made a mistake and they are not accountable to CNS bloggers.
On the other hand, schools & teachers must have standards & be role models for pupils. Many countries have problems with underage sex, teen pregnancy, single parent families, & the problems that their off-spring create. There must be some standards. What if a teacher is an addict? They may be a good teacher, but it's not a good example of one to their pupils.
I think you need to separate academic standards and private matters. I know of several teachers who have absolutely no academic standards and their poor performance is overlooked because they attend the right church.
On the other have, I have seen great teachers who are serious about their studies and are well like by their students, but because they would like to keep their private life private, they are persecuted, judged and over scrutinized
So you are comparing being a drug addict to being pregnant and unmarried?
Seriously?
If this were an unmarried male teacher with a baby on the way, we wouldn't be having this discussion.
13:10, How do you know that?
This will embolden other government funded schools to attach a scarlet letter to whomever they are targeting and do not belong to their cozy christian club.
Most of them already have stricter rules than Prep. She would have bene gone a long time ago if this were Triple C or Catholic.
Bet if she was a Caymanian teacher experiencing the same circumstances, how many of those would have signed the Petition. ********************.
The real question then would be how many of her friends or Caymanian parents would have helped start and support the petition.
If seh is at a private school or so called Christian school, she should resign or be suspended or fired. I’m sure she has broken the rule of faculty standards for this organization. In addition if the school does not take action it would portray that organization as one that had lost or misplaced its moral compass. Afterall Christians believe in preservation of the traditional family values including child bearing after marriage .
bottomline its good moral rectitude to:-
Get married then have children.
Not have children and then get married!
they must draw the line with this woman that should role model other young women!
Or Caribbean of a less than pale hue
Who is Huw?
Doubt I would.
Well a Caymanian would not be forced to move to another country by reason of narrow minded prejudice.
at least she has a home to return to
No….they would simply enter Cayman politics.
No one would sign this if it were a caymanian teacher.
Sad, but unfortunately a true observation, that if it were a Caymanian teacher in the same circumstances, the chances are that far too many of the comments would have been the over-used and grossly unfair acusation of "…another Caymanian with a sense of entitlement just because she's Caymanian"…!
This is a church / school that is happy to take money from atheists, agnostics and people of other religions, and yet they insist on foisting their outdated "Christian" principles on this individual. This is hypocrisy at its very worst.
A part of what the Church/School collects money to provide, is moral formation from a Christian worldview – plain and simple! So that's why the Church/School is happy to collect anyone's money who chooses to send their child to their school. Those people may choose not to send their children to this place that is bent on "foisting their outdated "Christian" principles" thier children!
So its ok to be unchristian during certain moments like taking money from an athiest through government taxes, as long as the bigger picture is you can teach others to be christian
-this is moden day ironic chrisrianity at its core, un….believable!
Given most of the private schools are church owned and CIS is so expensive you do not have a lot of choice if you wnat to send your child to a private school, especially if you are not Caymanian and cannot use the public schoools.
Wrong. You can use the public schools following section 20 of the constitution. Either go to CIS or shut up.
That's who needs its moral guidance the most. That is the whole point of the mission of the school so there is nothing hypocritical about that. One the other hand, if one send his/her child to a school all the while despising the moral foundations and church affiliation of the school that is hypocrisy.
May fall foul of the gender discrimination law? CNS, I expected better of you than that. You are certainly stretching it! Show how this would be gender discrimination? You are suggesting that they are many male teachers who are having sex outside marriage but because they obviously can't get pregnant their indiscretions go "unpunished" which may very well be true but evidence of wrongdoing is required and there are perhaps just as many female teachers who are doing the same thing but did not get pregnant, this woman being pregnant is clear,undisputable evidence that she breached the contract she signed.
I get that she is popular and well liked but she knew she was going to teach at a Christian school, she hopefully read the terms of her contract before signing, when she discovered that she was pregnant did she just expect them to turn a blind eye because of her popularity?
Everything in this life happens for a reason, a baby is a beautiful thing, my suggestion to her is to embrace this new journey she is embarking on, leaving CPHS may be what is best for her in the long run even if she and others don't think so right now. This may very well lead to a better job at a school where they are not so strict or follow a specific religion. So all you people petitioning on her behalf, you all never considered that this may work to her advantage?
No it is gender discrimination because if a male teacher at the same school impregnated a female anywhere he would not be let go for having his partner have a child out of wedlock.
Well if it became known that he was fathering b@stard children left right and centre most likely he would be gone.
Unless CNS has got a case in point which came to the attention of the CPHS Board and they failed to act on it that is pure speculation on their part and so could not establish discrimination in this case.
What, if I get pregnant I will be fired! Come on!
Call it a virgin birth and you might get a promotion.
I need to ask, but why show a picture of this lady, when I'm sure she would like a bit of privacy, during this time?
Yes CNS you are going too far.
You can't have your cake and eat it too. If a public campaign is going to be waged on behalf of this lady then of course her face should be public. Of course none of this should have been in the news in the first place because it isn't news.
Strange logic at play here. If she was at the end of her contract she knew that when that time came she had no job. Where's the discrimination?
The School has rules to follow. The Public should have nothing to do with it. ITS JUST HAT SHE SIGNED A CONTRACT AND THIS WAS PART OF THE AGREEMENT . CASE CLOSED.
if the contract says you can have sex out of marriage but if you get pregnant we fire you, them the person who draft the contract should be prosecuted for been a fascist. that is plain discrimination. blacks, jews, spanish, gays among others know about that.
that is so wrong in so many ways….. just because is in a paper does not make it right, want an example? the Ku Klux Klan manifest is on a paper, does it make it right? what…. hurts now?
It is a Christian school which says that in order to be a teacher there you must observe Christian principles. That is obviously right.
And please stop trying to confuse the issue with racism. This is about being required to observe certain moral standards.
You are far off point. The pregnancy is simply the proof of the sex outside marriage that is the breach of the required moral code.
Yes, lets puts cameras in thier employees bedrooms just in case some are using napkins and escaping judgment. Waste not one….
LOL. You are miffed because you have no real basis for criticism so you are suggesting that they do something that would give you a basis.
You might be right, perhaps the public should have nothing to do with it but shouldn't the parents of children at the school have something to say?
Parents are the ones who can directly see the impact this excellent teacher has had on their children's lives and educational development. Furthermore, parents are the ones who pay the salaries of the teachers and the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors seem to have missed this important point completely.
The parents should have understood the principles on which the school is run. If they don't like those principles they should withdraw their children from the school. Simple. Everyone's happy.
You could sign a contract saying that you will be someones slave (for example) but that contract would be invalid because slavery is illegal. If the clause in the contract falls foul of another law, it is invalid.
No comparison whatsoever.
Are you seriously comparing being required to observe rules against immoral behaviour to slavery???
No, idiot, if a contract has rules that can not be tested equally for all, then the rule is not a rule, making the contract null and void in such situations.
Says the legal expert who acquired his degree watching TV. LOL.