THE head of the Anglican Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands yesterday insisted that St Hilda’s High School for Girls does not discriminate against any prospective student on the basis of religion.

At the same time, Lord Bishop Dr Howard Gregory scolded Public Defender Arlene Harrison Henry for releasing the report of her investigation into the school’s decision to strip head girl Jade Bascoe of her appointment before allowing the school board to deal with the matter.

“We consider the release of the public defender’s report, without allowing the school’s board the opportunity to deliberate on the matter, premature, as the recommendation for reinstatement was made public before due process was exhausted,” Bishop Gregory said in a statement on the controversy that has rocked the St Ann school, founded by the Anglican Church in 1906, for the past few weeks.

Harrison Henry had stated that the 16-year-old student was subjected to inhumane and raw discriminatory treatment by the principal, and recommended that the student be reappointed to the position.

Harrison Henry had also recommended that the school board meet and make the appointment, and that “acts of discrimination by virtue of religious denomination be investigated by the school board”.

The matter sparked public outrage after it was alleged that the principal, Heather Reid-Johnson, stripped Bascoe of the positions of head girl and house captain because her religion was stated on a school application form as Jehovah’s Witness.

However, Bascoe’s mother has said that her daughter was not a practising Jehovah’s Witness and explained that the denomination was written on the form because the child visited the church.

Last week, the board reinstated the head girl, a move that has been welcomed by the education ministry.

Yesterday, Bishop Gregory said the board’s subsequent deliberation on the matter “was not about responding to directives from without, as it also enabled members to uphold the integrity of the institution and the tenets and principles of the Education Act, which lay out how a board should operate in these matters, and resolve issues when the proper channels are utilised”.

He commended the board and the school administration on arriving at a resolution of the matter, adding that they have received the assurance of the parent and student regarding the willingness of the student to perform the duties of the office of head girl, which was being sought from the outset. “We welcome the settlement of this issue which trial in the public media could only have complicated and prolonged,” Bishop Gregory said.

“It is our hope that healing of relationships within the school community will follow from the resolution of this incident, and that the school, under its present administration, will be allowed to continue the outstanding work which takes place there without further distracting public attention,” Bishop Gregory added.