DR Marjorie Fullerton, simultaneously fighting on two fronts — to defeat breast cancer and protect her reputation as a top-notch educator — won a decisive battle last Friday when the Supreme Court of Jamaica ordered her reinstatement as principal of the century-old Merle Grove High School in St Andrew.

The ruling dealt a severe blow to the school board, the Ministry of Education, and the Associated Gospel Assemblies (AGA) Church which owns the school — all of whom had upheld the dismissal of Dr Fullerton four years ago at the tail end of a long dispute with staff who opposed her leadership style.

Fullerton had the solid backing of students, their parents, and past students, who believed she had been good for the church-run, all-girls Merle Grove, making it one of the top high schools in Jamaica academically and with a reputation as being largely circumspect in behaviour.

Her victory also held symbolic satisfaction, if only barely, for her super attorney Peter Champagnie, who had just lost the high-profile case of Jolyan Silvera the same day in another room at the Supreme Court, for the death of the former politician’s wife.

The Jamaica Observer did not ascertain whether Dr Fullerton would seek to resume the post she had held since 2016, before she was removed by the school board in 2022, or whether she would opt for compensation.

“We spoke briefly on the matter last night and she awaits the written orders from the judge to make her personal decision. As stated by her, it’s been a gruelling journey and she is taking some time to self-reflect and absorb the ruling,” said a close associate of Fullerton.

At the moment when the school board voted to remove the principal she had just been rushed to the United States to begin chemotherapy after receiving “frightening news” of a breast cancer diagnosis, and while she had expected it, was unaware of the decision.

Fullerton’s then Jamaica Teachers’ Association-hired lawyer, Neco Pagon vowed that the battle was not over and signalled that an appeal would be lodged with the Teachers Appeal Tribunal on grounds that the process which finally sunk Fullerton was flawed and “tainted with bias”.

“We will challenge this decision on appeal because justice was not served,” said Pagon, who works from the chambers of the well known city lawyer, the above-mentioned Champagnie. “We still don’t know what evidence they had accepted and/or rejected in order to come to their conclusion, but we’ll fight on,” Pagon told the Jamaica Observer at the time.

The dismissal appeared to have had the blessing of then Education Minister Fayval Williams who told
Nationwide Radio that she was satisfied, based on advice from her legal team, that the David Hall-led board “has followed the procedures of the Education Regulations and so the board is within its rights — based on the laws under which school boards operate to inform the principal of their decision — that she be dismissed”.

Fullerton was given 28 days in which to file her appeal under the Education Regulations 1980, and a further option of seeking a judicial review at the Supreme Court if she was still not satisfied with the outcome, which she eventually did.

But Simone Thomas, the Canada-based head of the joint Merle Grove High School Past Students Association, lashed the board and the Education Ministry for “the injustice done to a woman who has done her all, and did it so well, for the school”.

“Our PSA group remains resolute in support of Dr Fullerton. We maintain the position that there were blatant breaches on the part of the personnel committee and the board of management, lack of procedural fairness, hence there could be no natural justice as her accusers were also the triers of fact.

“This is indeed a sad day for our school and its student population who continue to be adversely affected,” said Thomas in a press statement.

The past students accused the board of taking sides against Fullerton in a months-long dispute with lower school Vice-Principal Loretta Ricketts, leading to the principal’s suspension.

Ricketts was appointed to act as principal until further notice.

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Loretta Ricketts was embroiled in a bitter dispute with Dr Marjorie Fullerton.