CC principal won’t press charges against mom
CWESTERN BUREAU:
ORNWALL COLLEGE principal Michael Ellis, who was forced to ditch his jacket last Wednesday after he was assaulted by an angry parent, says he has forgiven the woman but hopes she will seek professional help in anger management.
“The truth is, I am not even going to press charges against her … . I believe she needs counselling,” said Ellis. “She tore my jacket, but I really don’t hold it against her. I gather from the police that she has offered to pay for it, but I don’t want any money from her. I just want her to get some help by way of counselling.”
The mother admitted to The Gleaner last Wednesday evening that she had grabbed Ellis’ jacket out of frustration as she tried unsuccessfully to get an explanation from the headmaster as to why her 15-year-old son had been suspended for 10 days without reaching out to her.
However, Ellis stated that before the altercation, he had explained to the mother that her son was given a letter outlining the reason for the suspension, but she had insisted that she wanted to hear it from his mouth.
“I told her that if she was not satisfied with my decision, she could take the matter to the board,” explained Ellis, who noted that her son was consistently violating the school’s dress code and had also given him an incorrect name when he personally accosted him.
“Ordinarily, he would have been suspended for five days for the dress-code violation, but because he also gave me false information, which was discovered when his file was checked, he was given an additional five days,” said Ellis, who took over the reins at the Montego Bay-based boys’ school a year and a half ago after leaving Green Pond High.
When asked whether he had exceeded his authority in giving the maximum 10-day suspension, Ellis, who has been a principal for 17 years, said his action was guided by Section 30 of the Ministry of Education’s Code of Regulations.
The section states:“The principal of a public educational institution may suspend from the institution, for a period not exceeding 10 days, any student – (a) whose conduct in his opinion is of such a nature that his presence in that institution is having, or is likely to have, a detrimental effect on the discipline of the institution; (b) who commits any act which causes injury to any member of staff or to any other student in that institution.”
Ellis said that while he has no further personal interest in the matter, the matter has been reported to the school board, which will determine whether there will be any further sanctions.
“I have nothing against the mother … . To be honest, she never approached me in any violent way. I guess she was just frustrated and perhaps even more frustrated that her son is giving her problems, too,” said Ellis. “I am willing to sit down and have a talk with her … . I hold no hard feelings against her.”