Parents: St. Ignatius “in turmoil” with mass resignations

(CMR) Mounting concerns at St. Ignatius Catholic School have now been taken to the Ministry of Education and at least several staff members have tendered their registration and the situation for the school continues to deteriorate according to concerned parents.

It has been revealed that the school is coming under great financial scrutiny after it was first reported in late September that the head of the school had resigned and there were concerns raised about Father Naveen D’Souza’s leadership.

At the time some 200 concerned parents also had a meeting where the St. Ignatius Home School Association expressed concerns about changes to the school's board and the resignation of Head of School Emily Alexander. It was revealed that there were also concerns about how the school was spending its finances and greater accountability was requested.

The overseer of the Cayman school, The Archdiocese of Detroit, is now involved in the ongoing fiasco which has expanded to now include allegations of potential financial mismanagement with several donors requesting refunds.

Last month, St. Ignatius Catholic School and Church, were issued a notice of non-compliance from the non-profit organizations’ registrar who is requesting the financial records. They had 14 days in which to comply.

Now, it appears that they have also had at least six members of staff resigned for “personal reasons” and recruitment efforts are underway in earnest to replace those individuals; some of whom have already been replaced.

The local parent group claims that The Archdiocese of Detroit, despite promising to facilitate the settling of all matters, have instead refused to acknowledge their concerns and have cut off all communication with the group. For their part, the Archdiocese contends the matter will not be quickly resolved and all concerned must be patient for an amicable resolution.

St. Ignatius Church and School are located on Walkers Road and the school is a Roman Catholic-based institution that was founded in 1971. They cater to children ages 3 to 18 and has been registered since 2018 as a non-profit organization listed as The Roman Catholic Archbishop of the Cayman Islands.