Aug. 16, 2003 – Reports of William Frett's resignation nine days ago as superintendent of the St. Thomas-St. John district schools may have been premature, although the Education Department has not been willing to say one way or the other.
Frett was still on the job at the end of the week, WVWI Radio reported, involved in preparations for the start of the new school year.
Frett tendered his resignation on Aug. 6 over an apparent dispute involving the reassignment of school administrators, the station reported a day after that. Knowledgeable sources said that he and Education Commissioner Noreen Michael had clashed over who should be named principal of Ivanna Eudora Kean High School, which has had an acting principal for more than a year and a half.
The resignation was submitted in a letter addressed to Gov. Charles W. Turnbull, and in it Frett asked to be relieved of his duties by two days later, Aug. 8, according to the earlier news report.
Other media also reported the resignation, and Liston Davis, a former Education commissioner and now a Board of Education member, confirmed it.
Government House public relations officers at the time would not confirm the arrival of a letter from Frett on Aug. 6, but a source said it was evident that communication was taking place between Frett and the governor.
The Education Department has yet to confirm or deny the resignation.
On Friday, Education public information officer Juel Anderson referred questions about Frett's status to the superintendent, who over the course of three days did not respond to media messages. On Thursday, a secretary at the St. Thomas Curriculum Center conveyed a message from Frett that he was "busy with a series of meetings and not available to comment," WVWI reported.
A Government House spokesman said that with Gov. Charles W. Turnbull off island, there was no one who could clarify Frett's job status.
Frett became superintendent after the governor removed Rosalia Payne from the position last Aug. 26. Michael had become commissioner five months earlier, after Turnbull fired Ruby Simmonds at the end of April 2002.
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