School of scandal

Problems which have kept the school in the national spotlight can be traced as far back as March 1999 when the teaching staff took action to protest "a series of violent assaults on members of staff and security personnel in recent times." The incident which triggered their protest on that occasion was the alleged assault of a teacher, John Hypolite, by a student of the school.

The disgruntled teachers sent a list of 21 demands to the Education Ministry, among them calls for tighter security at the school, including a police presence at the front gate at the start and the end of the school day. At the time Adesh Nanan was the Minister of Education.

According to a March 12, 1999, report in Newsday, the teachers also called for withdrawal of a directive that security personnel not search the bags of students as they arrived for classes; the removal of students who are on probation or continue to exhibit delinquent behaviour; and for students accused of criminal behaviour to be barred from the school compound until their matters are resolved.

In a statement the teachers said: "A general atmosphere of tension and violence is now pervading the school . . . members of staff believe that a threat to their personal safety has been created by this atmosphere and general breakdown of discipline amongst students."

In response to the teachers’ request for a senior official of the Ministry of Education to visit the school, Nanan visited Arima Senior Comprehensive in company with several TTUTA officials. The Minister got a first hand look at several vandalised areas of the compound.

Nanan later met with TTUTA officials to discuss violence and indiscipline at the school. The union followed up by meeting with teachers at the school.

For several months after that, the school appeared to return to some semblance of normalcy. However, by April 2001, serious problems erupted again. This time, 85 of the 102 members of the teaching staff were clamouring for the removal of principal Cheryl Ann Wilkinson.

The teachers expressed dissatisfaction with Wilkinson’s leadership style. They claimed that she had locked TTUTA officials, including then President Trevor Oliver, out of the school to prevent a meeting of teachers and the union. By that time, Kamla Persad-Bissessar had replaced Nanan as Minister of Education. She appointed Permanent Secretary Jennifer Sampson to look into the matter. Even while those investigations were taking place, Sampson and the Minister were claiming that they had no authority to remove the principal. Only the Teaching Service Commission had such authority, they said.

Persad-Bissessar explained: "My legal instinct tells me that the Ministry just cannot remove a principal because it is a public officer we are dealing with. We will investigate the matter and we must hear both sides. Then we will see what the process is."

Relations between the principal and staff continued to deteriorate and in April 2001 TTUTA called for an independent inquiry into the situation which had become an "absolute crisis."

Teachers stayed away from classes, opting to remain in the staff room after anti-teacher graffiti began appearing throughout the compound. There were also reports of students "throwing words" at teachers.

They returned to teaching only after the Minister mandated that classes return to normal. The Ministry later announced that it would send in a professional mediator from May.

A Schools Supervisor was seconded to the troubled school to mediate the impasses but, according to the teachers, was "unilaterally withdrawn" by the Permanent Secretary.

Persad-Bissessar continued to insist that she had no power to remove the principal from the school and said the teachers had not provided any evidence of a breach of the Education Act.

"Those are the only grounds on which the Ministry of Education can act to take the matter to the Teaching Service Commission which is the body with disciplinary powers over teachers and principals," she said.

Violence at the school continued to escalate. In early February 2002, with Hazel Manning at the helm of the Education Ministry, Dean of Students, Wayne Burkett, had his car tyres slashed and windscreen smashed following a "Soca Storm" event at the school.

Teachers said the incident was just the third case of serious violence for that term and they blamed a collapse of the school’s administration. They continued with their demands that Wilkinson be removed as principal.

TTUTA supported their calls. TTUTA President Trevor Oliver said Wilkinson had demonstrated that she was unable to "clinically supervise" staff at the school and had repeatedly rejected the union’s attempts to help.

Expressions of support for the embattled principal came from the school’s PTA which issued a statement praising Wilkinson for her unstinting efforts to improve the status of students at the school.

According to the PTA, students were no longer roaming the corridors and grounds aimlessly and Wilkinson had displayed great strength, deep faith and loyalty to her job.

In March 2002, Manning indicated that the Ministry could not solve the problems at Arima Senior Comprehensive and the matter was being turned over to the Teaching Service Commission.

A few weeks later, on April 7, the crisis escalated dramatically when nine teachers were served with suspension notices.

The notices were served at the homes of the suspended teachers by Alfred Wafe, School Supervisor II in the Ministry of Education. According to TTUTA, Wafe was accompanied by heavily armed policemen.