ST ANDREW, Jamaica – The Jamaica College board says it will soon issue a statement on matters related to its embattled principal Ruel Reid, describing as “misleading and untrue” some media reports.

On Wednesday, the JC board extended by five years the special leave granted to Reid, who remains before the courts on charges of defrauding the Ministry of Education and Caribbean Maritime University of millions of dollars during his tenure as education minister.

The decision reportedly resulted in the majority of the executive members of the Jamaica College Old Boys’ Association and the Jamaica College Parent-Teachers’ Association resigning in protest.

However, in a statement Thursday morning, JC chairman Michael Bernard said, “… much of what has been reported in various parts of the press and on social media is untrue and misleading”, adding that the board will issue a statement on the matter “tonight or early tomorrow”.

When the Jamaica Observer contacted Bernard Wednesday evening, he said that he does not know anything about the resignations.

However, stakeholders at the Old Hope Road, St Andrew, institution confirmed the move, saying that the old boys and parents have been fed up with the drawn-out situation regarding Reid’s fate.

Both associations have also regarded the leave extension as a slap in the face and undermining of the leadership of Acting Principal Wayne Robinson over the past five years.

Reid was arrested in October 2019 on the fraud charges. He was expelled from the Andrew Holness Cabinet in March 2019. The JC board had released him on secondment in March 2016 to serve as minister for an initial period of two years.