THE MINISTRY of Education has sought the Attorney-General's advice regarding the legitimacy of Munro College's withdrawing boarding privileges from five students caught smoking ganja last September.
The boys' inaccessibility to further boarding comes less than two weeks after Education Minister Burchell Whiteman overturned the school board's decision to expel them, and ruled that they should be reinstated.
Mr. Whiteman said yesterday that he hopes to get a response from the Attorney-General's Department today.
On Monday, the school wrote the boys' parents, telling them boarding privileges were immediately denied because the students had broken the school's rules and regulations. But the board's latest action has been sharply criticised from various quarters, including Dr. Brian Morgan, a former president of the Munro Old Boys' Association, who said the boys should be reinstated without the board imposing additional sanctions, based on the Minister's ruling.
But board chairman Laurie Sharp has defended the school's action, saying the boys' denial to boarding at Munro was based on a section of the Minister's ruling which stated that "an opportunity remains for further action by the school administration..."
The Munro board met yesterday to discuss the implication of Mr. Whiteman's ruling. Up to press time last night, The Gleaner was unable to ascertain the outcome of the meeting.
In September, the boys were caught smoking ganja in bushes on the school compound and were suspended for 10 days. The school then suspended them for a further five days, then expelled them.
The boys' parents appealed to Mr. Whiteman to revoke the expulsion, and on December 21, the Minister, citing a breach of due process and double punishment, overturned the Munro board's decision to expel the students because he said it acted excessively.
He said the board could only discipline the boys using one of three options under the 1980 Education Regulations. He ruled it was unfair for the board to have suspended the students twice then expel them.
