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Woman says she was fired for teaching patois poem
"We don't discriminate ...," school administrator says
A verbal battle is brewing between the administrators of a Corporate Area <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 700; COLOR: blue! important; BORDER-BOTTOM: blue 1px solid; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent">prep </SPAN><SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 700; COLOR: blue! important; BORDER-BOTTOM: blue 1px solid; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent">school</SPAN> and a Rastafarian woman, who is accusing them of not only dismissing her because she taught patois, but also forcing her daughter to leave because she started growing locks.
Zandriann Maye says that she was dismissed from her job as a drama teacher at King's Gate Prep in St. Andrew, after she taught a student a culture piece in patios. She said because of her dismissal her daughter has been asked to leave.
"The school said that they believed in grooming and that the <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: blue! important; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">hair</SPAN> of their students should be combed. They also said I was dismissed with immediate effect and that students should not use patois nor listen to dancehall as it was not a part of their style," said Maye.
When THE STAR contacted the school, however, they painted a different picture. The principal, who only gave her name as Mrs. Laird, said Maye was dismissed because she smoked ganja on the school grounds.
"We had a meeting and she was asked to leave. She was called into the meeting and told that we have rules and restrictions. We've had Christmas plays with dialect so there is no such law. What she did was the low, raw vulgar thing. It was not patois," she said.
Laird said she did not know the child wore locks and there was no form of discrimination. Laird added that Maye had performed the piece previously and was instructed to change it but showed her something different. She said the school did not encourage dancehall nor its culture. It was not until later that she found out that Maye intended to use the same piece in the upcoming <A class=kLink oncontextmenu="return false;" id=KonaLink2 onmouseover=adlinkMouseOver(event,this,2); style="POSITION: static; TEXT-DECORATION: underline! important" onclick=adlinkMouseClick(event,this,2); onmouseout=adlinkMouseOut(event,this,2); href="http://www.jamaica-star.com/thestar/20070301/news/news1.html#" target=_top><SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: blue! important; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana, Arial,
Woman says she was fired for teaching patois poem
"We don't discriminate ...," school administrator says
A verbal battle is brewing between the administrators of a Corporate Area <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 700; COLOR: blue! important; BORDER-BOTTOM: blue 1px solid; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent">prep </SPAN><SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 700; COLOR: blue! important; BORDER-BOTTOM: blue 1px solid; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative; BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent">school</SPAN> and a Rastafarian woman, who is accusing them of not only dismissing her because she taught patois, but also forcing her daughter to leave because she started growing locks.
Zandriann Maye says that she was dismissed from her job as a drama teacher at King's Gate Prep in St. Andrew, after she taught a student a culture piece in patios. She said because of her dismissal her daughter has been asked to leave.
"The school said that they believed in grooming and that the <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: blue! important; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">hair</SPAN> of their students should be combed. They also said I was dismissed with immediate effect and that students should not use patois nor listen to dancehall as it was not a part of their style," said Maye.
When THE STAR contacted the school, however, they painted a different picture. The principal, who only gave her name as Mrs. Laird, said Maye was dismissed because she smoked ganja on the school grounds.
"We had a meeting and she was asked to leave. She was called into the meeting and told that we have rules and restrictions. We've had Christmas plays with dialect so there is no such law. What she did was the low, raw vulgar thing. It was not patois," she said.
Laird said she did not know the child wore locks and there was no form of discrimination. Laird added that Maye had performed the piece previously and was instructed to change it but showed her something different. She said the school did not encourage dancehall nor its culture. It was not until later that she found out that Maye intended to use the same piece in the upcoming <A class=kLink oncontextmenu="return false;" id=KonaLink2 onmouseover=adlinkMouseOver(event,this,2); style="POSITION: static; TEXT-DECORATION: underline! important" onclick=adlinkMouseClick(event,this,2); onmouseout=adlinkMouseOut(event,this,2); href="http://www.jamaica-star.com/thestar/20070301/news/news1.html#" target=_top><SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: blue! important; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana, Arial,