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St. Lucia High Court Judge Rules That Student Must Leave School Pending Outcome Of Lawsuit

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent CMC – A High Court judge has lifted an injunction that allowed a 14-year-old student to continue her education at St. Joseph’s Convent Kingstown (SJCK) until a lawsuit filed by her mother is heard on November 15.

Justice Gertel Thom gave the order but told the parties that she would give the reasons for her decision in a written judgement at a later date.

The Form 4 student was reportedly expelled from school last year after writing a rude comment about her teacher.

Attorney Jomo Thomas, acting on behalf of the student’s mother, had filed a lawsuit against the school’s principal, two Ministry of Education (MOE) officials, and the MOE itself.

Over the weekend, Justice Wesley James at an interparty hearing in chambers ordered that the unidentified child remains in school and granted Attorney General, Judith Jones-Morgan, seven days within which to file a claim form.

The judge also gave the respondents 28 days within which to respond and scheduled hearing of the substantive matter for November 15.

However, within a few hours of the court order, the Attorney General filed another application asking that the court set side both the orders, respectively.

Justice Frederick Bruce-Lyle ruled on September 20 that the student continues classes at SJCK until the lawsuit is heard.

Justice Wesley James upheld the injunction on Friday against an application by Attorney-General Judith Jones-Morgan that it be overturned. But on Monday, Justice Thom lifted the application.

Earlier, students at the SJCK, armed with placards, took to the schoolyard in protest as they made it known that they do not want the 14-year-old as a schoolmate at the Catholic school.

School’s principal, Calma Balcombe, relished the support she received from her charges. Flanked by officials from the Ministry of Education and various principals from across the country, Balcombe said she was elated by the support she has received.

But Thomas told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) he understood “the ruling because based on the orchestrated events of today at the school, I think the judge would have been hard-pressed to rule otherwise.

“I speak with scientific certainty when I say it was orchestrated. There was a court ruling on Friday and because the ruling went against them, the lawyers filed for another action and they decided to make the school environment inhospitable for that child,” he added.

On the first day of the new school term last month, SJCK, teacher walked off the job in protest and stayed away from the classroom the following day.

They returned to classes on September 25th and placed the student in a form said to be different from the one to which she was reportedly assigned to at the end of the last school year.

“You have got to remember when they first ordered the child into school on the 23rd, rather than obeying the court order, the principal, teachers and certain members of the parent-teachers association had a meeting planned and closed the school down,” Thomas said.

He said the student went to class at SJCK every school day between September 25 and October 4.

“But on the 4th when the court ruled against the administration, they decided that they are going to make the school inhospitable,” Thomas said.

“What is unfortunate, they used children between the ages of 11 and 15 to carry out an act which is immoral and all of those teachers and all of those adults who engaged in that kind of action against a 14-year-old girl should be ashamed of themselves,” he said of the protest on Monday.

Thomas said he has not spoken to his client on the question of appealing the ruling.

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