In the midst of negotiations, the Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union (BSTU) offered six ways in which principal Jeff Broomes could be separated from the school, but the Ministry of Education refused them.
Days later, the union and a battery of Alexandra School teachers went on strike, thereby flouting the grievance-handling procedure.
This was the core of evidence given by former permanent secretary in the Ministry of Education, Bruce Alleyne, the first witness to appear before sole Commissioner Frederick Waterman in the Commission of Inquiry into The Alexandra School dispute at the Garfield Sobers Sports Complex yesterday.
Alleyne recalled that on December 30, 2011, BSTU consultant Patrick Frost presented six options as to how best a separation of Broomes could be achieved. They included retirement at age 58, suspension, negotiations for a payout, retirement by the order of the Governor General and imposition of sanctions by the Public Service Commission. (RJ)
