‘Deeply troubling’: JTA alarmed as 15 Kingston High teachers get termination letters

More than a dozen teachers at Kingston High School have been issued termination letters by the institution’s Board of Management, a move described by Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) president La Sonja Harrison as “deeply troubling” and “extremely egregious”. Observer Online understands that 15 teachers, some of whom have been employed at the institution for more than a year, received the letters following a recent board meeting. Chairman of the school board Carlton Brown told Observer Online that the separations were based on assessments and the performance of the teachers.

“We had a situation where we did have some separations based on assessments, outcomes, and performance, and it's not fully completed yet. That's as much as I can say right now,” he said. However, the school’s principal, Jermaine Loutin, described the affected educators as excellent teachers who deserved permanent appointments, also pointing to the performance of one teacher whose subject area, he said, recorded a 100 per cent pass rate over the past three years.

Loutin, who is currently on vacation leave, said he had recommended that approximately 32 teachers be granted permanent appointments at the board’s last meeting in June. He said he subsequently learnt that the board had met and issued termination letters to some teachers. “Most of these teachers, when I say most, 99 per cent of them are excellent teachers who are due their permanent appointment,” Loutin said.

“I have seen some of the letters that teachers have sent to me, but I would have expressed to them that I have nothing to do with this. “My recommendation for them was for them to be made permanent, so I cannot say why the board would have made that decision,” the principal said. He further alleged an ongoing challenge of recommendations submitted by the principal to the board being disregarded.

“I cannot say why the board would have made that decision. But I know that the matter has been reported to the JTA, and the matter has also been reported to the Ministry of Education, and they are conducting their investigation,” Loutin shared. Termination letters seen by Observer Online were all dated October 6, 2026 and stated that the teachers’ employment would end on October 21.

The letters, issued by the school’s Board of Management, said the decision followed a review of the teachers’ personnel file, appraisal records, atte…