Education Minister Elvin James should come to an honest decision about whether he is the best man for the job, said Shadow Education Minister Grant Gibbons.

Dr. Gibbons, of the United Bermuda Party, said he was "disappointed" with Government's failure to make any real gains in reforming the education system.

He said the breakdown between Mr. James and the CedarBridge Academy Board of Governors hindered any efforts to properly govern the school.

Meanwhile, Bermuda Democratic Alliance leader Craig Cannonier said the ongoing conflict confirmed a lack of leadership skills, which has damaged the quality of public education on the Island.

Their comments came a week after Mr. James terminated the Board of Governors' Chairman George Scott and Deputy Chairwoman Lovitta Foggo. The remaining executive members of the board resigned in protest last Friday.

On Wednesday, the former board issued a statement in "defence of (their) professional reputations". It listed close to 14 challenges the board was met with during its tenure.

This included the alleged interference and 'micromanagement' of the running of the school by Mr. James through Permanent Secretary Kevin Monkman.

The board claims Mr. Monkman acted "contrary to General Orders and the usual protocol governing the behaviour of civil servants in the working relationship with their respective Ministers". The allegation is now the subject of a complaint, filed on September 10, to the Head of the Civil Service.

The former board allegedly dealt with a "damning" internal audit report which revealed unaccounted for or improperly documented funds in access of $500,000.

It claimed they had no visits or support from Mr. James in areas of policy, clear vision, leadership or commitment to CedarBridge during their term.

Despite numerous attempts to contact Mr. James and the Ministry of Education, there was no comment by press time last night. Yesterday Education Board Chairman Darren Johnston said: "Thank you for your inquiry. This is a matter for the Ministry to address. Please refer to the Minister."

Yesterday Dr. Gibbons said it was pointless to get into the specifics of the dispute, but important to look at the larger picture.

"What we have here is a serious breakdown in the working relationship between the Minister and the governing of a senior school, in which policy is supposed to be translated into decisions that strengthen the learning environment for students.

"Clearly this working relationship has been dysfunctional for some time, given the former board's statement that the Minister has undertaken 'no visits or support… in terms of policy, clear vision, leadership or commitment.'

"The bottom line is that this is a failure of leadership — a failure to provide vision and support to an institution that exists to help forge productive lives for our children."

According to Mr. Cannonier, the public education system has suffered through seven ministers in 11 years and deserved a "revamp in the leadership" and "a competent Minister".

"Bermuda is not ready to face the 21st century with the quality of its educational leadership. The tragedy is that we are squandering the valuable resources that we have in the Island due to poor leadership.

"The Minister of Education is solely responsible for this total breakdown and visibly has handled the situation poorly without legal advice and a consideration for the students at CedarBridge."

Dr. Gibbons added the most "disappointing" part of the dispute was that Government has "failed to get a grip and make real progress on reforming the system".

"For people wondering why this Government has failed, they need to look no further than this avoidable situation where we see a failure of accountability, a failure to pay attention, a failure to provide vision and, ultimately, a failure to provide leadership.

"I would urge the Minister to consider his position and come to an honest decision about whether he is the best man for the job."