JC Old Boys’ Association says it’s open to ‘constructive dialogue’ amid protests
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Following Thursday morning’s protest by the Jamaica College Old Boys’ Association (JCOBA) demanding the resignation of Lance Hylton as chairman of the school board, the group has announced their intentions to resolve internal issues ‘openly and respectfully.’
In a release on Friday, the executive board of the JCOBA said as the institution continues to iron out their differences in a way that preserves the school’s best interest and that of its students, it is encouraging constructive dialogue.
“The Association continues to encourage constructive dialogue between all parties involved in addressing any concerns that will arise utilising the opposite channels, while preserving the best interest of the institution and its students as top priority,” its release read. “By taking a measured approach, JCOBA Limited is hopeful that the situation can be resolved through open and respectful communication.”
This after Acting Principal Wayne Robinson insisted on Thursday that there will be no let up in getting information on what he said was an unaccounted sum of more than $20 million raised for the school.
According to Robinson, the monies were raised for the Old Hope Road school by the old boys’ association during the tenure of former President Major Basil Jarrett.
Robinson had filed a lawsuit against Jarrett alleging that $3 million from the sale of school uniforms — which were given to the association in a fund-raising effort — were misappropriated.
However, last month Supreme Court judge Justice Opal Smith rejected Robinson’s suit on the grounds that he had no standing to bring such a claim in his personal capacity as principal of the school and that Major Jarrett was not a proper party to the claim as at all times he was acting as president of the JC Old Boys’ Association.
READ: Acting principal hits back as JC old boys protest
While the situation at the institution continues to evolve, the association in its release maintained that focus should be firmly on the school’s continued successes, rather than “fomenting internal discord’ adding that it “stands ready to assist in facilitating positive discourse as required.”
