Kingston, Jamaica, 29 October 2021: Chairman of the Board of Management of Jamaica College, Michael Bernard has disclosed details of their engagements with the Ministry of Education Youth and Information, as well as the decision taken by the Board last night.

Mr Bernard noted that this must be a difficult issue for the Ministry, but he wanted to clarify the position of the Board.

He said that having received the Request for Special Leave from Mr Reid on August 2, the Board on August 5, sent it to the Minister for guidance.

Since that date, numerous discussions have been held with the Minister and Ministry, by representatives of the Board, with the support of JC stakeholders, regarding Mr. Reid’s status and the enablement of the creation of a vacancy for the position of Principal at the school.

“We were advised by Minister Williams that she was working on a proposal to facilitate same and instructed that a team be put together with a view to producing a proposal
which she could take to Cabinet,” he said.

The Ministry further advised that legal advice had been sought from the Attorney General, in relation to the proposal. A meeting of stakeholders was planned for October 7 and the Minister was advised of such.

After consultation with the Minister, the Permanent Secretary asked on the Minister’s behalf for the meeting be postponed to give time for the proposal to be completed and
taken to Cabinet the following Tuesday. The meeting was postponed and the Minister advised of same on 4 October.

Based on legal advice, Attorney At Law Derek Jones, as Chairman of the Jamaica College Trust, wrote to the Minister on October 22, asking for a meeting to discuss the situation.

At 10.25pm on October 25, 2021, he received a letter from the Minister telling them that The Jamaica College Board has the “power to act on matters relating to staff tenure as per the Education Regulation, 1980 and that the Ministry expects that in your actions you be guided accordingly”.

“We found this response from the Minister, after almost three months of discussion, to be shocking, to say the least,” said Mr Bernard. “Further, a review of the regulations revealed that the Board does not have the power to dismiss Mr Reid as no complaint was made while he was performing his role as Principal of Jamaica College. Any cause for complaint during Mr Reid’s tenure as Minister might be known to the current Minister and others, but without that evidence formally submitted as a complaint, the Board is unable to take action with respect to terminating his tenure at Jamaica College.”

The Board met until late last night and unanimously approved a letter to the Minister which went to her at about 11 PM via email.

The Board and the Jamaica College community anxiously await the Minister’s decision so that they may proceed to permanently appoint a Principal to continue to manage the institution and guide the development of the school’s students.

Given that the Board does not want to be forced into a position to either approve the Special Leave or alternatively allow Mr. Reid to resume the Board approved three recommendations to which were sent to the Minister last night and requested the Minister to respond by November 10 in advance of the November 20, 2021 expiration of Mr Reid’s current Special Leave.

The Board is united on this position.