The chairman of the Board of Governors at the Berkeley Institute has stepped down after 15 years in the position. Calvin White graduated from Berkeley Institute in 1968 and is described as being hard working and passionate about the school. His resignation was announced in the House of Assembly on Friday during the congratulatory remarks. He is expected to leave his post in January.

Acting Principal of the 110-year-old school, Sandra Burrows said he would be missed by faculty and students.

"He has worked extremely hard. The school comes first for him after family. He will be greatly missed but I understand that he perhaps has some other things that he has to do."

Asked when it was announced, Mrs. Burrows said: "What I can say is that it was a surprise when we heard in June at graduation that that was going to be his last official graduation with us. Everyone here at the Berkeley Institute thinks the world of Mr. White. We know that he has always fought hard for what was best for the school. He has been a champion and supporter of students and staff."

Shadow Education Minister Grant Gibbons asked the House to send its congratulations to Mr. White who was "resigning as Berkeley chairman after well over a decade".

Mr. White, a father-of-five and a grandfather-of-seven, was appointed as chairman of the board in 1994. It is believed that he is stepping down simply because he feels his time is up. Mr. White comes from a Seventh-Day Adventist family and his brother Trace White, a former pastor, runs Impact Mentoring Academy, a school for boys.