Hampton School Board apologises to education minister
KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Board of the Hampton School for Girls has apologised to Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator Ruel Reid over the way they handled his request for a full report regarding principal Heather Murray’s appearance on January 5, at the hearing of the alleged rape case against a minister of religion.
The ministry in a release today said board members, at a meeting held yesterday, endorsed an earlier apology to Reid from board chairman, Trevor Blake.
According to the ministry, Blake, in his apology dated February 3, withdrew an earlier statement to Murray’s lawyer, which was shared with the media, indicating that no agreement had been reached at a January 11 meeting for her to go on two week’s leave to prepare a full report for the board and the minister.
Blake’s letter stated inter alia: “I unreservedly withdraw my letter of January 16, 2017, and apologize sincerely for releasing same to the press. I am aware of your commitment to education and to good outcomes for all of those within the system, and regret the impression my letter caused.”
The board members also apologised to the minister acknowledging that they had not handled the matter properly. It was noted that no independent investigation had been conducted to ascertain what happened except to rely on the account submitted by Murray, the ministry said.
Reid also noted that releases were sent to the media from both Murray and the chairman without any reference to him.
The minister also referred to the Education Act and the Education Regulation 1980 and reminded Board members of their responsibility to the Minister. He stated that under the Act, the board was accountable to the minister whether it was a Trust school, a church school or otherwise.
He added that he has a responsibility as the person in charge of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information to address any matter regarding education that was of interest to the public.
The minister also reiterated that the matter was not handled with transparency by the board, adding that it was made to appear in the public domain that there was contention between the members and himself.
He also pointed out that a legal advisor to the board was not a member and so for them to have inserted a lawyer into a board meeting was a breach under the Education Regulation.
Reid accepted the chairman’s and the board’s apologies and indicated that further discussions would be held with the chairman of the Munro and Dickinson Trust, Dr Brian Morgan on the constitution of the board going forward.