‘One big mess’

The Ministry of Education is yet to respond to Jamaica College after the board of the St Andrew-based high school sent it three recommendations on how to settle the imbroglio with the in-limbo Principal Ruel Reid, whose special leave is set to expire at the end of this week.

Reid was seconded to the ministry in 2016 as education minister, but resigned in March 2019 amid a corruption probe, which later led to him, along with his wife and daughter, facing charges. Caribbean Maritime University President Dr Fritz Pinnock and Brown’s Town Councillor Kim Brown-Lawrence have also been charged in the multimillion-dollar case.

In August, Reid wrote to the school seeking a five-year extension up to 2026 on his already-extended leave.

Two weeks ago, the Jamaica College board sent Education Minister Fayval Williams three recommendations regarding the request, asking for a response by November 10.

Did not want to be forced

It asked Williams to initiate a formal complaint to the board, pointing out that without such a complaint, it was powerless to act. Alternatively, it suggested that Williams exercise her power to withdraw Reid from the school or negotiate a settlement with him so that it could proceed to permanently appoint a principal.

The board made it clear that it did not want to be forced into a position to either approve the special leave or, alternatively, allow Reid to resume duties at the school.

“We had no response from the ministry,” Chairman Michael Bernard told The Sunday Gleaner last Thursday, the day after the school expected a response.

“Ministry has only acknowledged receipt of our letter. Nothing else so far,” he added when contacted again on Friday.

Reid is being paid a $4-million salary while on leave, and “still benefits from emoluments tied to his position as principal”.

Jamaica College has denied that it continues to provide millions more to prop up the embattled principal’s salary.

On Friday, Bernard said that he could not confirm whether the school was negotiating behind closed doors to share a 50-50 leave buy-out with the Government.

The chairman insisted that the debacle has not caused a black eye despite the fallout.

“JC’s reputation remain intact in everything in relation to Ruel Reid and this matter, as we have been following the laws and acting in the best interest of the school,” he said Friday.

Former Education Minister Ronald Thwaites said that the board had found itself in a sticky situation.

“It is one big mess, but JC cannot fire him,” Thwaites told The Sunday Gleaner.

“They have nothing against him which is chargeable under the Education Regulations, but, of course, they don’t want him back,” he stated, a position also expressed by Bernard.

“Any way that they seek to discipline him, he will go to the courts and will successfully claim unjustifiable dismissal. And the school will be held liable and reinstate him. His lawyers will argue successfully that if you don’t want me, you have to extend my leave and continue to pay me, but I cannot imagine how JC is going to explain to the public that it is foisting Reid on to taxpayers’ backs,” argued Thwaites.

At a post-Cabinet briefing last Wednesday, Williams indicated that the ministry was still awaiting legal advice on the matter.

Provisions for Reid’s special leave are covered in Section 68 of the Education Regulations, which states, “A teacher in a public education institution may be allowed special leave with or without pay as the minister may approve on the recommendation of the board to enable the teacher … ” to undertake a number of activities.

An August 25 letter the education ministry sent to Jamaica College, advising that the board had the powers to either extend or discontinue the leave not only “offended JC”, The Sunday Gleaner was told, but triggered October emergency board meeting at which the recommendations were agreed and dispatched to Williams.

Weighing in on the matter, a Sunday Gleaner source said that Jamaica College has no option but to extend the leave to keep Reid out “because if they reject it, he returns”.

Continued the source: “[Acting Principal Wayne] Robinson will be shoved out of the system and go back to Quality Academics or wherever else he came from because he could not even serve as a vice-principal because he could not dislodge the current tenured vice-principals.”

School ‘tainted’

Based on Section 68, Reid’s leave may be extended without pay.

“Either way you take it, Jamaica College is in a bind and any well-thinking individual with interest in process and good governance at heart would step away. He is an accused and remained innocent until proven guilty, but the school is unnecessarily tainted whenever the issue is raised,” said Fitz Jackson, a former finance state minister.

“Reid should offer his resignation ... . Because he has not committed any egregious actions as principal, the board can take no disciplinary action or recommend that any be taken against him. Were I in his position, I would have resigned long, long ago,” said Jackson, who, during his tenure, oversaw several contentious contractual disagreements.

“Not a single soul from the administration has uttered a word about the current situation. And that is so sad,” said Jackson.

The Supreme Court has granted leave to Reid and Pinnock to go to the Judicial Review Court in a bid to quash a ruling of Senior Parish Judge Chester Crooks in their fraud case.

They are contending that the judge should not have ruled in an earlier matter because of a conflict of interest.

Crooks and Reid are both past students of Munro College in St Elizabeth.

Crooks had heard a preliminary objection from their attorney Hugh Wildman that the trial should not take place because personnel from the Financial Investigations Division did not have the authority in law to arrest or bring charges against the accused.

On February 4 this year, Crooks disagreed and ordered that the fraud case should go to trial.

At the time, however, Crooks revealed that he would not try the case because there was a potential conflict of interest.

In May, Reid and Pinnock filed an application in the Supreme Court seeking leave to go to the Judicial Review Court to quash Crooks’ ruling following the discovery that the judge is also a Munro past student.

erica.virtue@gleanerjm.com