PM Briceno Speaks on Jamie Lee Usher’s Firing from BHS

Prime Minister John Briceno says the publicity placed on the termination of the principal of Belize High School has nothing to do with the fact that she is the wife of the Minister of Public Service and the PUP Chairman.  The situation has made headlines with reference to her performance as an educator and her record in pushing the institution forward, which the Prime Minister says he could support as he too has had business with BHS when his son was enrolled.

Hon. John Briceño, Prime Minister of Belize: “I don’t think it’s a matter of it has anything to do with the chairman of the party but everybody must recognize that Ms. Jamie Lee Usher has been an exceptional principal. I got to know her closely when my son was at Belize High School and she was full of energy, always pushing for the children, for the kids and finding avenues, the exciting things for them and I think that through her efforts has been able to put Belize on the map. So I guess that the UWG found it necessary to say something about it. That was not necessarily a party decision it was the women’s group that decided that they wanted to say something so it’s not like they cleared it with me or the chairman. They felt that they wanted to say something.”

Usher received her termination letter on Wednesday, February 14, with no rationale stated in the correspondence.