Graham Garton this week will allow him to go ahead with plans to head up a rival academy, Labour and Home Affairs Minister the Hon. Irving Pearman has confirmed.

Mr. Garton, who was dismissed by Dunbarton last May, was originally denied a permit to direct the newly formed Bermuda Academy by the Immigration Department last month.

But Mr. Pearman said that Mr. Garton, a Briton, was able to successfully appeal the decision.

"I entertained his request for an appeal and he was duly approved,'' Mr.

Pearman told The Royal Gazette . "He can work for them (the Bermuda Academy) for two years.'' News that Mr. Garton was proceeding with the new academy has caused dismay among many in the musical community, who feel the Island cannot sustain another music school.

Last Monday, Dunbarton's board of trustees accused the Gartons of encouraging students not to register for the new term. About a third had not done so by this week.

Mr. Garton's wife Barbara, a voice teacher who was also dismissed by the school, said on Wednesday the couple would issue a statement on the matter Friday, although none was forthcoming.

The Gartons have consistently declined to comment on their experience with Dunbarton or their current status.

Earlier this week, Dunbarton's board of trustees said Mr. Garton was dismissed because of his failure to communicate with staff, his Anglocentric teaching bias and the undue attention he paid to outside pursuits.

Mr. Garton is also director of the Bermuda Philharmonic Society and the Geoffrey Tankard Choir.

Questions have also arisen over the legality of the Gartons' re-entry to Bermuda this summer. The couple was supposed to turn in their work permits to Dunbarton in July, a faculty member confirmed this week.