St James High principal refutes accusations of ‘wrongful dismissal’ by teacher

WESTERN BUREAU:

Tension is again brewing at the St James High School in Montego Bay, as a teacher, who was temporarily employed, says she was “wrongfully terminated” for unsatisfactory performance by the school’s principal, Joseph Williams.

However, speaking with The Gleaner on Wednesday, Williams said due process was followed in the dismissal of Tiana Taylor, who was employed by the school to teach English language and literature.

“She was assessed, and the evaluation showed that her performance was unsatisfactory and so she was duly notified,” said Williams, in outlining the position that was taken.

“I have been summoned to her classes more than once to quell disturbances between her and the children. She treats the children badly. She had a very poor relationship with the children.”

However, in outlining her grievance, Taylor, who said she started working at the school last September in a temporary position, said she received a letter in late June, stating that her tenure with the secondary institution would come to an end on August 31.

In the letter, which she shared with The Gleaner, it stated “reason being your performance evaluation is rated as unsatisfactory”.

Taylor further stated that she is one of four teachers who received similar correspondence bearing the school seal. However, she said that alarm bells went off in her head after she noticed that the signature of the chairman of the school board was missing.

The disgruntled teacher is arguing that Williams did not follow the stipulated guidelines of the Education Regulations, 1980, claiming that over her three terms at the school, she was not aware of any evaluations of her performance being done.

“When it comes on to a new teacher being employed at a school, there is a code of regulation that governs the appointment or displacement. It has been mandated in the code of regulation that a new teacher at the school gets three appraisals for the year. One each term,” Taylor explained.

“Those are the instruments that would be used to determine whether I stay on or if I go. Now, for the entire year I have not been appraised. I haven’t had any meetings with them regarding any performance. I haven’t gotten anything. No communication, nothing at all.”

REQUEST DENIED

Taylor went on to state that her requests to view the appraisal used to determine her dismissal were denied. She said she has made several requests to the head of the English department; however, the information was not forthcoming.

“I sent her a message regarding the appraisal because I wanted to see it, but I got no response. I sent her a second message and I still got no response, so I went to her. I told her that I am in receipt of this letter from the school saying that my tenure would have come to an end on August 31, and of course, I would like to see the instrument. I would like to see where I fell down and what my strengths were, so going to the next school I can know,” she said.

“To my surprise, she did not have the instrument available, yet the letter was coined to say I have an unsatisfactory performance,” added Taylor, who claimed she was asked to do her own appraisal during the conversation with the head of the department.

Taylor said she contacted Christopher McCurdy, chairman of the school board, to assist her in dealing with the matter and she was advised by the chairman to resume her duties on Monday when the new school year started.

“He (the chairman) told me to go back to work because obviously that must have been an error, and that letter cannot stand. I went back to work on Monday when school officially began. I signed the register, and I asked my HOD for my timeline. To my surprise, she said that to her knowledge I got a letter to discontinue. I went back yesterday, and I stayed inside my colleague’s classroom,” she shared with The Gleaner.

“I went back this morning (Tuesday) only to be met with a surprise when I went to the gate. I was told publicly that I’m not allowed on the compound because there is a standing order against me,” said Taylor, noting that she intends to file a lawsuit after experiencing “public embarrassment and humiliation”.

BOARD TO DISCUSS

When McCurdy was contacted by The Gleaner, he said he was aware of the situation.

“I am aware of the matter. It has not yet been discussed at the board level, so I prefer to wait until the board meets and discusses it thoroughly before we can state our position on it,” McCurdy said.

In responding to Taylor’s claim that no appraisals were done by the school during the time of her employment, Principal Williams rubbished that claim.

“We have evaluation that is done by the head of department, vice principal, principal and grade supervisors. Of course appraisals were done. All of those are documented and they are here,” said Williams.

When quizzed as to why the board chairman’s signature was not affixed to Taylor’s termination letter, Williams told The Gleaner that, “You would have to speak to the chairman about that.”

St James High was in the news earlier this year when reports surfaced that Williams had expelled two female students for inappropriate behaviour. At the time, the chairman and the principal were seemingly not seeing eye-to-eye on that matter.

rochelle.clayton@gleanerjm.com