CLOCK WINDS DOWN

D-Day for Reid in JC saga

WITH HOURS on the clock before the special leave of scandal-scarred former Education Minister Ruel Reid was set to expire, negotiations between the Ministry of Education (MOE) and Jamaica College (JC) board to determine the way forward were still under way up to late yesterday.

“We have to share at this point. We’re still working on dealing with it,” JC Chairman Michael Bernard told The Gleaner late Friday evening, adding that an update would be communicated once a decision had been made.

Hours earlier, the JC board revealed that Reid’s application for a five-year extension of his leave, which would coincide with his retirement, was turned down by the education ministry.

The board said that it had recommended that the leave be extended to maintain the current stability and status quo at the St Andrew-based boys’ secondary school.

It said since 2016 when Reid was seconded from his role as principal at JC to take up his Cabinet appointment, he ceased receiving a salary or other emoluments from the school.

The board said while it is aware that criminal charges have been laid against Reid, who is before the courts in a multimillion-dollar fraud matter, no evidence has been put forward that can support a disciplinary hearing which could lead to his termination.

The board said that its attempts to secure evidence have proven futile.

It had presented three options to Education Minister Fayval Williams to bring a complaint against Reid, reassign him or enter negotiations for a financial settlement.

If a settlement is not reached today, Reid will have to resume duties as JC principal on Monday.

Reid resigned from the Cabinet in 2019 amid the fraud allegations in relation to the Caribbean Maritime University (CMU).

His wife Sharen, their daughter Sharelle, CMU President Professor Fritz Pinnock, and Councillor Kim Brown Lawrence are also charged in the matter.

Meanwhile, the board has dismissed media reports which suggested that there was a fallout among the management at the Old Hope Road institution in relation to the stormy matter.

“We can confirm that two executive members of the Jamaica College Old Boys’ Association, who are also executives of the PTA (Parent Teachers’ Association), have resigned from both bodies. There have been no mass resignations as reported,” the board said.