I am forced to write in response to your news article (January 24, 2016) reporting that I “was forced to step down” as Chairman of the Board of Management of the St Cyprian’s Preparatory School in Highgate, St Mary.

The article reports few verifiable facts, relying mostly on the perceptions, opinions, and innuendos that were presented in a letter which was written to the Anglican Diocese and dated January 19. The article also seeks to create the impression that I was callous, uncaring, and lacking in insight and competence in the discharge of my duties. In responding, I wish to establish the facts related to the concerns raised, and comment on a set of issues faced by private schools in general, and St Cyprian’s in particular.

The present Board, from which I resigned as chairman, was appointed on July 22, 2015, in the midst of a crisis: the principal had been away from school since April 12, 2015, with no information as to if or when she would return; a cheque written in June, in the sum of $30,000 had been returned by the bank; there were no funds to pay staff salaries for July and August, nor utility bills for the same period; no repairs being done to the plant, nor preparations being made for the new school year, and no funds to finance any of these activities. In addition, there was no budget in place, no financial statements available, and the secretary/bursar was nonresponsive and uncooperative. The governance structures and management of the school had collapsed and several parents were seeking other options for schooling their children.

In the article of January 24, the following assertions were made.

1 I had ‘fired the security guards hired to serve the property’, “minimal communication was made with the principal … as she was not part of the final decision-making process, hence allowing her to hear by the way…” The facts are:

i Security is provided by a security company, which cost the school $500,000 per year. There has not been a contract in place since 2007. In December the school had outstanding invoices amounting to $120,000.

ii This issue was discussed at the October and November meetings of the Finance Committee, at which the principal was present.

iii One day in November, the security company failed to dispatch service personnel to the school.

iv I met with the security supervisor and pointed to the budgetary problems that exist, hence the inability to pay, while continuing to accumulate sums owed. We agreed that they should withdraw as of January 19, giving the school time to implement alternate security arrangements. I expressed confidence that the school will overcome this challenge and invited him to re-establish our relationship when we are able to pay. The principal was not at this meeting as she had asked to be excused. She was however briefed before and after.

v Alternate arrangements were in fact made, but fell through. When the alternate arrangement was proposed, the principal was briefed. She even made suggestions.

2 The article asserts that ‘the situation forced an emergency meeting of the board on Wednesday, after which Russell resigned’. The facts are:

i This was a meeting that was identified during December by the Diocesan Secretary, when I approached the Diocese for cash flow support, in making the December payroll.

ii At the January 20 meeting, three letters were tabled: first, from the teachers, then, from some Board members, finally, from parents. I indicated my intent to resign after the second letter was read. My resignation was not influenced by the parents.

3 The article asserts “poor stewardship” by me, and a deleterious “leadership style (on my part) was making conditions at the school worse. The facts are:

i There is no truth to the assertion of a “normally controversy-free institution”. St Cyprian’s has had its fair share of controversy. Two years ago a number of teachers were terminated due to professional improprieties; a PTA president resigned due to lack of support for his ethical stance; extra lessons were suspended two years ago, under controversial circumstances; the practice of collect and spend has been in place without planning, budgeting, management, and controls; I assumed chairmanship of the board at a time when there was a cash deficit of $2,000,000, after several questionable expenditures.

ii It is under my stewardship that in August the principal was appropriated $100,000 to prepare for the start-up of school.

iii It is under my stewardship that a petty cash system was established, to prevent spontaneous and unplanned expenditure, and to institute financial control.

iv It is under my leadership that the Board established a finance committee, a budget was prepared and approved, the principal became a bank account signatory, and the principal required to authorise expenditure.

4 The assertions are made that the principal was removed from her office; that an accountant was employed (in addition to a secretary/bursar; extra lesson fees were withheld; and inadequate provisions made for prize-giving function. For the record, I had no confidence in the secretary/bursar, as she was unable to provide the information required nor the willingness to support the effort required for achieving our goals. A trained teacher, having a diploma in Business Education, was identified to assist with the management of the school until an audit commissioned by the board was to hand. These are the facts:

i On her first day, the auditor found cash in excess of $350,000 in the office. The teacher/accounting assistant handled large amounts of cash and a secure place had to be found for her. The arrangement agreed to, by the principal, was that because she teaches and the office will be unused for most of the day, whenever she wishes to use the office she instructs the teacher/accounting assistant, who will vacate the office.

ii Collected extra lessons fees were apportioned and paid on the basis of a certificate from the principal as to the sums that are payable to participating teachers. The policy governing extra lessons was decided by the previous board. Parents argue that a) the entire fee should go to the teachers, b) fees are paid up front, and c) children are being embarrassed. Teachers use school resources and the arrangement between the teachers and a previous board was a 75%:25% apportionment. Not all fees are paid up front. The effort was to obtain an independent register of children in extra lessons, not to collect fees. In all the purpose was simply a basis for ensuring that the agreed apportionment of fees collected is achieved.

5 The article reports that parents feel disenfranchised because the school has discontinued Music and Spanish offerings. They also insist that budgetary provision should be made for the prize-giving function. These are the facts:

i During the 2014-2015 school year, spanish and music were delivered by part time teachers, at a cost of $1,200,000 out of a total budget of $8,000,000. For budgetary reasons, the two were not offered

ii A specific budgetary provision for the prize giving function was not made as this was only brought to the attention of the Finance Committee during mid-October. I asked the principal to prepare a report, with a view for its inclusion. This report was never received.

My actions as chairman were never motivated by self or a desire for power. As your article reveals, I have held positions of authority, including being vice-chairman of the United Nations Statistical Commission. I came to this position on the invitation of my rector and my church. I did not seek this position. I however assumed the position of chairman, recognising the imperatives faced by the board of St Cyprian’s — a private school. My first priority was to obtain basic information to place before the new Board. After that, our objectives were to pay teachers for the two months, pay the bills, prepare for the start of the school year, and organise to ensure financial sustainability. I recognise that in a private school, expenditure is funded by income (fees, tuck shop, fund raising, etc). There is no other source of financing or support. During Term 1, revenue was used to cover the expenditure for the period: July to December 2015, in addition to recovering a bounced cheque. To achieve this, we had to institute management systems and controls, tighten the budget, and change management personnel. These and others are issues faced by this and other private schools. In private schools, viability depends on curricular effectiveness and financial feasibility, which are achieved by the quality of governance, management, instructional leadership, and stakeholder support. My efforts over the previous five months have been directed at the viability of St Cyprian’s Prep School. Sadly, persons often allow short-term “concerns” and niceties to rob us of long-term viability.

There has apparently been the notion that the school is in great shape, except for the presence of this former Chairman. Throughout my working life I have advocated and applied data-based performance for achieving strategic goals. When I applied this technique my inference was that, for the most part, St Cyprian’s was limping along and was unprepared for the current paradigm, standards, and imperatives in Jamaican education. Analysis of comparative data reveals that several public schools were performing better than this school. I asked the question: Why would a parent rationally, pay $66,000 to send a child to St Cyprian’s when s(he) may send the child to a well-performing public school for free? There is a huge role in governance for pushing St Cyprian’s toward modernisation, and towards students attaining excellence in achievement. There is an equally massive role for a principal who is willing, able, and enabled to provide instructional leadership to the school.

Extra lessons is one of the artefacts from a time when the Common Entrance Examination (CEE) was used to select pupils for high schools. The exam syllabus was different from the curriculum in primary school. As a consequence, a curriculum was developed to prepare pupils for the CEE, and commercialised through extra lessons. With the GSAT (and the proposed HOTS) exam, there is a role for extra lessons, if the pupil requires more time to attain the intended skills or having attained, to enhance the skills or processes. The imperative for St Cyprian’s and all other schools is to apply educational thought to curricular processes that would obviate the need for extra lessons, instead of arguing to further entrench this practice.

There is a group of parents whose view is that he who pays the piper calls the tune. They do not see much, if any, role for a board of management. Each of these parents proceed on the thought that the school should be organised and operated on their dictates. There is no room for dialogue.

As the school moves forward, there are many tough decisions to be made. I can only comment that the school has the potential to be viable, but must strive for excellence in achievement and the application of best practices in governance, management, and instruction and learning. Improvements are possible. Church House has promised to provide training. I make the point however that improvement will result from training only if the singular problem is absence of competence.