“The play’s going on,” Martin vowed. “They couldn’t close down ‘Rent,’ so they’re trying to shut down this one.”
Martin said a private investigator had been hired three weeks ago to investigate allegations by a parent and a counseling center employee of “alleged statements” that he made to two students about getting then-Principal Fal Asrani fired.
Martin said he doesn’t remember saying such things, and wouldn’t have because Asrani wasn’t fired; she resigned.
He now remains on paid leave, indefinitely. Martin is required to stay in town, not speak to school staff or students, not set foot on campus without prior approval and an administration escort, be available if the district calls him, as well as provide detailed lesson plans daily for his substitute teacher, he said.
Martin claimed the district is not required to tell him when, if ever, he would return to work. He was placed on leave Tuesday, the day before the school’s new Gay/Straight Alliance was to have its first meeting.
The club’s new T-shirts — emblazoned with the phrase “Some people are gay. Get over it!” — had just arrived.
But the club could not meet, as its advisor, Martin, wasn’t there.
“They’ve been investigating for at least three weeks. Why did they choose then to put me on leave?” Martin asked. “It came right at a crucial time for my play, for the GSA — do they honestly think that I’m going to sit back and do nothing?”
“It seems like a truth-is-stranger-than-fiction story. If we wrote a screenplay, I don’t think we could do any better than this,” parent Michael Wiggins said.
