Principal, parent fight at school
A primary school principal and a parent were on Friday hauled before the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court following a fracas at their Kingston school.
When the duo appeared before Chief Parish Judge Judith Pusey, the principal told the court that the parent attacked her after she refused to allow her on the compound, after she was informed that the parent had threatened to hit a student who had an altercation with one of her children.
The principal told the court that while she was doing a uniform inspection to ensure that all the students were properly attired, the parent entered the school compound.
“She came up and pushed the gate and pushed me. She was making a lot of noise. Security couldn’t get her off the compound,” the principal said.
The school official, who is also charged with assault, told the court that the parent hit her in her face with the gate, slapped her several times, and bit her on her hand.
“I held on to her false hair to get her off me,” she said.
But the parent, who confessed to biting the principal, denied hitting the educator.
“I started pulling the gate, and when I let it go it slapped her (the principal) in her face. She grabbed my hair and I bit her.”
The parent explained that on the day in question, she took her children to school, but was told that they would not be allowed inside without their crests, so she returned home to get them.
She said she returned to the school and opened the gate to let her children in when the principal told her that she was being disrespectful and locked her inside the school grounds while her children stood outside crying.
The mother of four said despite other school officials telling the principal to let her out because the children were crying, the principal said she didn’t care.
Pusey, while condemning the women, told the parent that her behaviour was questionable and that if she had issues she should take them up with the Ministry of Education.
“Schools have rules for a reason,” Pusey said. “When the teachers are doing their thing you have to cooperate with them. If dem seh wait, you wait, because it causes chaos.”
Meanwhile, the principal told the court that she has been on sick leave since February 1. She said she is unable to function as a result of the injuries she had received. She also said she has been experiencing dizzy spells and is to undergo a neurological examination.
“Tell me why you should not go to jail,” Pusey asked the parent, who responded: “I am very sorry; poor judgement.”
“We have to stop this nonsense where anything happens, we go to the school and bad up the teacher,” Pusey said. “The only person my mother used to bad up is me. This kind of behaviour cannot be tolerated. You have children, you have to respect the school.”
She also admonished the principal: “When you are going to insist on certain behaviour from your parents, you should not fall below the mark.”
The principal, who was unable to disclose her medical expenses, was advised to calculate the sum for her next court hearing.
An April 4 date was set for them to reappear in court
Interesting. Where are the cell phone recordings and/or CCTV surveillance when you need it? lol. Although some of these teachers or in this case the principal can come for a student/parent in a manner that seems to be excessively authoritative, let’s face it some school pickney bare face bad with the disrespect and some parents naw tek nuh check. That’s how this sounds to me. By the time mom go and come back, she was so heated that she was ready to crack skulls. Oh well, hopefully she nuh get nuh hard time cause it sound like some money gwan have to dash out right ya now.
Primary school dis a gwan? No man teacher get all bite she betta go check out dat bite suh she nuh get noting… mi seh mi see some picney we get diagnose up yah fi sumtings an dem seh birth defects an all kina tings…. but a swear if dem check di parents dem figure weh it come from… di likkle Jamaica full up a mad ppl dung deh a spread it tuh di picney dem an nuh know. Cause dis lady clearly a go chu sumting..prably breed up wid di four picney an no Daddy.
ppl should have more respect the school authorities
Dats why some of their children come to nothing. When you gwan suh a school the teachers don’t fawt pon your child, as dem know who you is. If your child failing dem no offer extra help or go out dem way for them because they don’t want to deal with you. Is your child lose in the end when you go on like this.