Jamaica College Old Boys’ Association (JCOBA) says it is welcoming a recent decision by the school board to “back track from accusations of misappropriation that were levied against Major Basil Jarrett and the JCOBA” two weeks ago.

“The walk-back came in two 11-page letters from the board’s Deputy Chairman Lance Hylton to both The Gleaner and Jamaica Observer newspapers where Hylton wrote that ‘No one has accused Jarrett of misappropriation of any funds’, in regard to the JCOBA’s handling of the uniform centre at the school,” JCOBA said in a news release last week.

The association also stated that it’s First Vice-President Chadwick Paul had said that whether the back-tracking was the result of a preliminary reconciliation letter and other irrefutable evidence placed before the board, “or the swirling possibility of a defamation lawsuit”, the “board has done the right thing in clearing the air”.

Additionally, the old boys’ association said the JC board had accused Jarrett of not having an annual general meeting (AGM) in eight years. However, the association pointed out that it held biennial AGMs in 2016 and 2018, but had missed 2020 due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The association also said it took objection to Principal Wayne Robinson’s claim that the JCOBA had not provided him with an account of how the uniform money was spent, “even though Jarrett had written to him on March 3 giving a preliminary breakdown of the spending”.

“We knew that the accusations were manufactured, malicious and frivolous as we could account for every dollar that had been spent over the last two years,” the release quotes JCOBA Secretary Kevin Walker.

“For someone as dedicated and committed to JC as Basil is, we felt it was really regrettable that the board had targeted him in this manner,” Walker added.

“We had asked an external auditor to help us with the preliminary reconciliation, and a full report will be provided at the upcoming AGM next month,” Walker said in the release.

The association also said that two weeks ago 12 members of the JCOBA Executive signed a letter of support for Major Jarrett in the ongoing impasse between the organisation and the school.

“This follows a ruling by the National Council on Education earlier this year that board Chairman Michael Bernard acted outside of his capacity in removing Jarrett from the board,” the association said.