Two ministries and the island’s child protection agency have launched separate investigations into a string of allegations levelled against the principal of a private school, ranging from inappropriate sexual behaviour to acts of physical and verbal abuse, Barbados TODAY has learned.
The Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Labour and the Child Care Board (CCB) have all confirmed receiving letters from a group of former teachers and staff outlining the alleged acts against staff, students and even parents.
When confronted by Barbados TODAY with the allegations, the embattled principal claimed persecution by “witches” practising “obeah” before denying the allegations through his lawyer.
In letters under the names of seven ex-teachers and dated September 13, 2023, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education was informed that the school boss “repeatedly made sexually inappropriate comments and advances towards female staff members, including inappropriate touching, inappropriate sexual innuendos and propositions, unannounced visits to their homes, and uncomfortable personal questions about relationships and sex”.
They also claimed that he verbally belittled, threatened, intimidated, and bullied teachers, often in front of students. Accusations also included physical and verbal abuse of students as a form of discipline.
“This includes aggressively yelling at, grabbing, and lifting . . . children by their shirts/collars, as well as throwing objects in classrooms. Students reported feeling terrified of [the principal],” according to the complaint.
The letter also claimed that the school head allowed and encouraged an overall hostile, tense, and fearful environment at the school, that communication between administration and staff was poor, learning materials and furniture were inadequate, and that there was an absence of critical support staff for maintenance and cleaning.
“[He] displayed inappropriate contact with minor female students. Multiple teachers witnessed [him] having . . . girls sit on his lap, giving them piggyback rides, and lying with their heads in his lap. This behaviour raises serious concerns of potential child endangerment and misconduct,” the disgruntled educators contended.
The former staff told the authorities they remained “deeply concerned about the safety and well-being of the remaining students and staff at [the school] under [the principal’s] leadership”.
“These inappropriate behaviours demonstrated a clear pattern of abuse by [the principal] and have been witnessed by multiple teachers over a period of several years who feared their own safety and the possibility of losing their only source of income in these tough financial times. Many parents have removed their children from the school after experiencing similar treatment and have made several complaints to the Ministry of Education,” the complaint alleged.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education Wendy Odle said the matter is already receiving its attention.
“It’s a matter that I would have asked the chief [education officer] to investigate,” Odle told Barbados TODAY in an interview on Tuesday.
Chief Labour Officer Claudette Hope-Greenidge said the Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MLS) has seen the letter of complaint and will be addressing the claims.
“What I can confirm is that the MLS has received correspondence dated September 13, 2023 and the department is engaged in examining the contents and the related documents to determine what action, if any, should be taken,” Hope-Greenidge told Barbados TODAY.
“Appreciate that we will have to look at the contents and determine what we [will do] depending on what the reasons are and so on.”
When contacted, Director of the Child Care Board Roseann Richards stated: “It’s a matter that will need investigating.”
One teacher who claimed she was a victim of the school boss’ alleged “intimidatory and inappropriate behaviour” told Barbados TODAY that any attempt to chide him for his treatment of students and staff was met with hostility.
Another former staff member alleged that she became an ongoing target of her ex-boss’ conduct to the extent that it affected her health greatly.
She also spoke of being affected by the unfolding events at the school which she said had been going on for about five years. She recalled that three teachers left “due to [the principal’s] behaviour” including “two who were fired because they did not condone his behaviour”.
When Barbados TODAY reached out to the principal and asked for his response to the allegations, his first reaction was to claim that witches were practising witchcraft at his school and blamed some ex-teachers who followed the “ring leader in this evil act”.
“We found out that witchcraft was being practised and we acted. Because of that, this has been a very ticklish thing because we actually thought of going to the church and speaking to the church on the matter. Unknowing to us, obeah was being practised on the school compound,” he said.
When pressed to speak specifically to the allegations, he responded: “Are you serious? So, anyone can sit down and write to a publication and it gets published. That’s what you are saying?”
After he was informed that complaints were sent to various government agencies, he again asked: “Are you serious?”
The principal declined to address the allegations but instead returned to the issue of witches. Again pressed on the claims, he said there were rumours circulating which have hurt the school and it no longer has the full complement of staff. He declined to provide numbers but said he did not think the “witchcraft” would have reached the level of these serious allegations.
It was at this point he said he would refer the matter to his lawyer. Sometime afterwards, his attorney reached out to Barbados TODAY and denied the allegations.
emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb
