JC old boys expect no funding fallout after Ruel Reid deal
Published:Monday | November 22, 2021 | 12:09 AMDavid Salmon/Gleaner Writer
At least two prominent alumni of Jamaica College (JC) are not anticipating a financial fallout from the saga surrounding Saturday’s resignation of scandal-plagued principal Ruel Reid..
Reid, who is facing fraud charges relating to his secondment as minister of education between 2016 and 2019, was set to return as principal on Monday after his special leave expired on the weekend.
But the board of management brokered an eleventh-hour settlement to head off the embarrassment of Reid’s return to the Old Hope Road all-boys’ high school while under a cloud of corruption. The school has not disclosed the projected payout.
When asked if the controversy could impact fundraising for the school, prominent donor and past student R. Danny Williams offered a terse response, declining to speak in detail.
“All I can tell you is that the school has always had full support from its past students … and it continues to have good support from its past students,” said Williams, accusing the media of “trying to make an issue out of nothing”.
His remarks come against the backdrop of rumblings among its old boys’ and parent-teacher associations about the handling of the Ruel Reid affair. Aggrieved executives are also reportedly protesting what they have deemed antagonistic behaviour by the school’s board, claiming exclusion from some meetings.
The Michael Bernard-led board has been under fire for its handling of the imbroglio that has engulfed the school. So far, at least, two members of the old boys’ association and one member of the PTA have resigned.
The board of JC had initially recommended an extension of Reid’s special leave but the Ministry of Education denied the request.
Ian Forbes, a current member of the board, also does not expect further meltdown from the Reid saga.
“I don’t anticipate any fallout. That is as much as I am prepared to say presently. I expect no fallout,” Forbes told The Gleaner on Sunday.
When contacted on Sunday, Bernard, too, was curt.
“Mr Ruel Reid tendered his resignation to Jamaica College. We have accepted it. We have put out a couple of press releases so any further information that you require, please refer to those,” he said.
Bernard issued a statement challenging a Sunday Gleaner article on Reid’s settlement with JC.
He called the article “grossly incorrect, untrue, and misleading in every material respect”.
However, he did not state any specifics.
“What is true is that Mr Reid has resigned and Jamaica College is moving on with its march of excellence … ,” said Bernard.