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Merl Grove High School Principal Dr Marjorie Fullerton has been diagnosed with breast cancer, "frightening news" that coincided with her dismissal by the board of the church-run all-girls institution, impeccable Jamaica Observer sources said Tuesday.Fullerton, who was rushed to the United States recently for the start of chemotherapy, is likely not fully aware of the details of Monday's formal dismissal from the post she has held since 2015.However, she knew that the board had voted at an emergency meeting last week to remove her, after months of conflict that divided the staff, past students, and parents of an institution that has largely remained circumspect throughout its century-old existence at Constant Spring Road in St Andrew.Fullerton's Jamaica Teachers' Association-hired lawyer, Neco Pagon, vowed Tuesday that the battle is not over and signalled that an appeal would be filed, probably next week, with the Teachers Appeal Tribunal on grounds that the process that finally sunk Fullerton was flawed and "tainted with bias"."We will challenge this decision on appeal because justice was not served," said Pagon, who works from the chambers of well known city lawyer Peter Champagnie. "We still don't know what evidence they had accepted and/or rejected in order to come to their conclusion. But we'll fight on," Pagon told the Observer.The dismissal appeared to have the blessing of Education Minister Fayval Williams who told Nationwide Radio that she was satisfied, based on advice from her legal team, that the David Hall-led board "has followed the procedures of the Education Regulations and so the board is within its rights, based on the laws under which school boards operate, to inform the principal of their decision - that she be dismissed".Williams said she did not intend to intervene in the matter any further.Fullerton has 28 days in which to file her appeal under the Education Regulations 1980 and a further option of seeking a judicial review at the Supreme Court if she is still not satisfied with the outcome.Hall and his counsel, Dr Garth McBean, did not take calls from the Observer, but the board chairman told the radio station: "I'm pleased that ministry has found that the Personnel Committee and the board had [acted] in order and in line with the Education Act. We followed all the steps."But Simone Thomas, the Canada-based head of the joint Merl Grove High School Past Students' Association, lashed the board and the education ministry for "the injustice done to a woman who has done her all, and did it so well for the school"."Our PSA group remains resolute in support of Dr Fullerton. We maintain the position that there were blatant breaches on the part of the Personnel Committee and the Board of Management, lack of procedural fairness, hence there could be no natural justice, as her accusers were also the triers of fact."This is indeed a sad day for our school and its student population who continue to be adversely affected," Thomas said in a press statement, adding that the past students, who had been highly supportive of the school over the years, had been left in turmoil by the dismissal.Local hearings into the seething dispute over the suspension of Principal Fullerton by the school board ended last Monday, followed shortly after by the dismissal.The school board has been accused by past students of taking sides against Fullerton in a months-long dispute with lower school Vice-Principal Loretta Ricketts, leading to the principal's suspension.Ricketts appears to have gained the upper hand as she has now been appointed to act as principal, until further notice, Hall also confirmed Tuesday on Nationwide.On the eve of the opening of school for the new academic year, Fullerton, returning from her summer break, overturned plans implemented by Ricketts, who had been acting in her absence, on grounds that she had already put plans for the reopening in place and had not been consulted on the new arrangements with which she would be stuck for a full year.Hall's board, at an emergency meeting, then suspended Fullerton, saying her actions had "negatively impacted the school and caused unrest among the staff".Pagon said his client was clear that the hearings had not been conducted in accordance with the Education Act and the Education Regulations, insisting that the members of the Personnel Committee had freely shared information against Fullerton with the board, even before the hearings.Hall countered that everything was indeed done above board.