Ocho Rios Primary VP and parent charged after alleged ‘tussle’

The St Ann police have confirmed that the vice-principal of Ocho Rios Primary School and a parent have been charged following an alleged physical confrontation between both parties at the school on Monday.

Senior educator Althea Green and the parent, Judene Greenland, were slapped with charges of assault occasioning bodily harm. 

Head of the St Ann police, Senior Superintendent (SSP) Dwight Powell, confirmed the charges to talkupditingsdem News on Tuesday evening. 

He said both parties will appear in court on February 7, 2023.

Several teachers at the St Ann school walked off the job on Monday, protesting the alleged assault of Green by the parent on the school compound.

When asked if he could confirm whether the vice-principal had allegedly inflicted any injuries on the parent, leading to the educator being charged, as well, Powell said: “We are investigating a case of assault OB (occasioning bodily) harm, and the circumstances will be ventilated in court.”

According to reports, a teacher confiscated a student’s cell phone after it was used in class on Monday morning. 

The device was subsequently handed over to the vice-principal.

It is alleged that another student contacted the mother of the child whose phone was taken.

On arriving at the school, the mother reportedly attempted to retrieve the cell phone from the vice-principal, who resisted her attempts.

A tussle reportedly ensued between the parent and the senior educator, during which both allegedly received minor injuries.

The parent has reportedly apologized for her role in the altercation during a brief mediation session, which led to a brief protest by teachers of the primary school. 

Coming out of that mediation, the parent has opted to remove her child from the public school system to a preparatory school.

Classes at the school resumed after the brief protest by the then placard-bearing educators.