The father of a 15-year-old boy is now distraught and in distress because his son was allegedly beaten by a teacher then kicked out of school for selling sweets.

Information reaching THE WEEKEND STAR is that the boy, who attends a prominent high school in Kingston, has been out of school for over one month.

"If it tek the last breath outa mi, mi nah mek dem tek mi son outa school fi go tun no gunman enu," said Percival Tracy in a recent interview.

It is understood that the incident in which the boy was allegedly beaten with a PVC pipe happened in May.

While admitting that the boy is not a perfect child, Tracy told THE WEEKEND STAR that the situation is a case of misunderstanding as the boy's grandmother gave him a bag of sweets on her return to Jamaica.

He explained that on the day of the incident, he gave his son $1,000 to take to school. The teacher he said assumed that the money was profits from the sale of the sweets.

"The teacher box up mi son, tump him up ina him side and lick him wid a piece a PVC pipe on him foot that was already broken. When my son ask him what him doing him carry him to the principal," he explained.

summoned

Following the incident, the father said he received a call from the principal summoning him to the school. After meeting with her, he was allegedly sent away leading him to believe that the matter was quashed.

Seemingly this was not the case, as a few days later on June 1, the boy called his father to inform him that he was put out of school.

"On June 1, my son call mi and say they put him out of school. Him say a teacher see him and push him out the gate and tell him say him mus not be on the school compound," Tracy recalled.

He noted that when he went to the school to have dialogue with the principal he was shunned.

"When I tried talking to her she said she didn't want to talk to anybody, and she don't want him (the child) back in her school," he said.

Interestingly, Tracy was later informed that a memo, which THE WEEKEND STAR managed to acquire a copy of, had been sent to all teachers telling them that the boy should not be seen on the school compound until further notice.

"Up till now I don't know what is further notice because he is still at home. I went to the ministry and spoke to about three education officers. My son has never got a suspension so it's not a situation where he was expelled because of three suspensions, and besides no child is to be suspended for more than 15 days," he expressed.

When the school was contacted, the principal informed THE WEEKEND STAR that the student was admitted to the school after he was asked to leave another institution.

It's my fault

"It's my fault I should not have taken him," she stated.

The boy she said has been before the school board twice.

She also informed THE WEEKEND STAR that at a meeting on May 8, an agreement was reached between the school and the boy's parent. At that time he was given a second chance to continue his secondary education and a final warning was issued.

"The child was not expelled, the chairman gave him (father) the opportunity to withdraw the child, he is fully aware of the circumstances, he was at the meeting," she said.

The principal also denied the allegation that the child had been beaten with a PVC pipe by one of the teachers.

In the meantime, Tracy says that the principal is trying to cover her tracks by fabricating stories about his son.

"She is trying to cover her tracks, she is abusing her authority. I never entered no agreement and my son has never been before any board. When I challenged the record, the guidance counsellor said there was no suspension on his record," he said.