THE parents' council of a Catholic primary school has resigned over a bitter dispute with school authorities.
St
Senan's in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, is at the centre of a row that
started two years ago when a 12-year-old was suspended -- a decision
that was later overturned by the Department of Education.
But the
issue came to a head when the parents' council disbanded earlier this
month, accusing the school authorities of "keeping a lid" on the
controversy.
The boy had been accused of misbehaviour and banned from school from March 10-12, 2009.
The
disbandment of the parents' council was prompted after its three parent
representatives quit over the suspension and because, they said, they
were given no support from the school authorities to organise
activities.
The boy's parents, Charles and Jennifer Kavanagh, won
a Department of Education appeal to have his suspension overturned and
expunged from his permanent record.
They took their case to the
High Court in March 2010 to seek a judicial review after they were
initially told they had no right to appeal the boy's suspension.
The
Appeals Committee of the Department of Education found the school was
wrong to have suspended the child.
The action taken against the boy was
deemed to be against the Rules for National Schools and the Education
Welfare Act (2000).
Flawed
Despite this
decision, the chairperson of the school's board of management, The
Reverend Brian Broaders, wrote to the Kavanagh family to say the
department's decision was "flawed".
The teenager is now in boarding
school but his parents are demanding an apology.
Mrs Kavanagh said her son was "extremely popular" in class and she had always been "very happy" with his school reports.
Mr Kavanagh said his son now finds it hard to make eye contact with his teachers due to the trauma he suffered.
School
principal Henry Goff and Rev Broaders were both contacted for comment
but they said they were unable to disclose details of the matter because
it was "confidential".
A parent representative on the Board of
Management, who had quit the council over the row, condemned the
school's role in the suspension.
"The school authorities kept a
lid on the suspension issue for two years in the hope that it might
resolve itself. But that is where the problems started. People were
acting on their own authority and not listening to the concerns of
parents."