refusal to allow a parent to call her at home has won an out-of-court settlement with the school.

The parent had wanted to have a conference with the teacher regarding a "strapping threat'' against her son for not knowing the spelling rule, Magistrates' Court documents revealed.

The boy was "in tears all night'' over the threat, which teacher Mrs. Eren Henry said he knew she would never carry out.

Mrs. Henry had insisted his mother call the school and make an appointment to speak to her during school hours -- not on "my time''.

But administrators of the Seventh Day Adventist school called her "cold'', Mrs. Henry claimed, and rebuked her for not fostering open communication with pupils' parents.

When school superintendent Pastor David Rogers summoned her to a meeting in November, 1992, over the matter and asked her to apologise to the parent, the non-Bermudian teacher chose to resign, breaking her contract.

After a two-year legal battle in Magistrates' Court, she was paid $2,000 on Monday by the school in an out-of-court settlement.

And finally, after a more than one-year wait, she was given a letter of release allowing her to seek another job.

The money was repayment for a portion of her salary which she had to give back to the school for ending her contract early and before she could get her letter of release.

Pastor Rogers complained she had given just five working days notice and presented a "hardship'' to her fourth grade class.

Mrs. Henry filed a civil suit to get the money back, disputing that she owed the school anything at all.

Court documents showed that in a lengthy meeting with the parent and school administrators, principal Mr. Clayton McKnight had told her he felt it was "ridiculous'' of her to allow some parents to call her at home, but not others.

The parent she was refusing to speak to "on my time'' argued she could not call Mrs. Henry in the day because she worked until 6 p.m.