Disgusted with what they describe as an "indecisive' school board, teachers at the Pembroke Hall High School will today wear black as a form of protest.

A member of staff, who asked not to be identified, told the Observer that the decision was taken after three 11th grade boys, who on Wednesday last week ganged and beat up a male teacher, were only suspended.

The entrance to the Pembroke Hall High School in Kingston. (Photo: Karl McLarty)

Teachers, the newspaper was told, were not satisfied with the light sentence. They say the school board must take harsher action against students who hurt teachers.

"We are sending a message to the board. Students can't just beat up teachers and all they get is suspension," the staff member said. "Students who attack teachers should be expelled immediately. We are having serious problems with the discipline here."

Yesterday, the Observer was told that the teacher was assaulted by the boys after he had retrieved a chair that the boys had removed from the music room. He received several blows all over his body and was bitten in the head.

According to the staff member, the teachers have been staging a silent protest since the incident.

"We have been on strike since Thursday morning. We went to class, but no lessons were taught," the staff member said.

The Duhaney Park police on Friday confirmed that they had received a report of the assault. The three boys involved in the attack have been described by teachers in the school as disruptive elements.

"They are part of a gang of troublemakers who make our job very difficult," one teacher said.

The Observer was told that this was not the first time a teacher had been physically attacked by students at the school.

"A female teacher was stoned as she taught in a classroom. One of the stones hit her in her back and her back was swollen. She had to skip school for a day because of the pain," the staff member said, adding that the students are disrespectful and often threaten teachers.

"They will be disrupting the class, and if you tell them to stop they tell you bad words and tell you about your mother. Some students will even tell you that you deserve gunshots. They break out fighting right in the middle of class all the time," one teacher said.

The indiscipline is not restricted to boys, as some female students are said to be equally out of order.

"The girls are just as, or even more aggressive," the staff member said. "When you are walking through the school they chip the bad words loudly and without care for authority. Things can't go on like this at Pembroke Hall."

However, the staff member said all was not doom and gloom, as well-behaved students also attend Pembroke Hall High School.

"There are students here who want to learn, but the ones who behave like hooligans are making their lives harder as the constant disruptions make it difficult for the teacher to impart all that could be imparted during class time and they lose out," the staff member said.

There are more than 1,000 students attending the school.

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