Come April 25 it will be 11 years since a 96-page Ministry of Education (MoE) report into the leadership at St James High School in Montego Bay revealed a dysfunctional environment that desperately needed fixing. Between 2008 and 2014 there were 62 documented issues that begged to be resolved.

According to the report, the school’s capacity to be effective was “significantly eroded” by the strained relationship among school personnel while working relationships between the principal and then bursar — as well as other members of staff — were “irreparable”. It also concluded that concerns about the quality and effectiveness of the school’s leadership and management were valid and verged on “professional misconduct”.

Unable to get lesson plans from a number of teachers, and alarmed at the suspension and expulsion of more than 100 students one Christmas term without the board’s prior knowledge or input, the 2014 report gave the school a “less than satisfactory” grade for general performance.

Without a clear picture of how some board members had been selected, it also said the school board had “been compromised, rendering that body less effective than it should be”.

In an effort to provide students with an environment conducive to learning, there was a call for the MoE’s regional office to take a more hands-on approach, for Principal Mr Joseph Williams to be less autocratic, and for then Education Minister Ronald Thwaites to decide on the fate of the board.

It is unclear if any of those recommendations from 2014 were ever implemented as Thwaites is unable to recall. However, what is clear is that the problems at St James High persist, and may have indeed worsened.

On Monday the school gates were padlocked, the second time this year. According to Principal Williams this was done by those who wish to see the back of current board chairman, Mr Christopher McCurdy.

The MoE’s Permanent Secretary Dr Kasan Troupe has indicated that there will be an investigation into Monday’s incident and perpetrators with consequences. We await such action targeted at fixing the problems that have plagued St James High for far too long.

On Monday, executive director of the National Council on Education Ms Merris Murray told our reporter Anthony Lewis that the next step is mediation.

Forgive us if we are cynical about this course of action. In our view, we are well past that. It has been at least 17 years of unrest at St James High, across successive administrations, and one can only imagine the toll this has taken on students and faculty.

Calls for action are often met with the refrain that the education ministry does not have the power needed to act. Speaking at a post-Cabinet press briefing on February 26 of this year, two days after a heated exchange at the school between the principal and board chairman, education minister Dr Dana Morris Dixon said there were plans to review the relevant legislation and regulations to give the ministry the teeth needed to deal with such infighting at schools. We wholeheartedly agree. If the existing rules do not work, change them. Here, we in this space include the vaunted Education Regulations, 1980.

But do so with alacrity. The students of St James High must not be made to endure another 11 years of this.