SCHOOL goes back next week but for the parents and students of Carcoar Public School it will be a bitter affair.
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The school P&C lost its battle to reinstate its relieving principal of seven years after the Department of Education and Communities (DEC) staff told her, late last year, the job would be given to a principal of a recently closed school.
Despite the disappointment, P&C president Nicky Parker invited opposition education spokesperson Ryan Park and Bathurst Labor candidate Cassandra Coleman to a rally at the school’s art hall yesterday where about 100 people joined them.
She said the volatile situation should be seen as a case study for the government on how not to deal with a tight knit community.
“We will continue to lobby and continue to complain about the treatment,” she said.
“We’ve had no consultation ... I at least expected [Minister for Education] Adrian Piccoli to respond and say the community is really upset and that he stands for small communities, but he didn’t, nothing we’ve had nothing.
“I did expect him to reply ... he can fix this.”
Mrs Parker contacted Mr Piccoli’s office on numerous occasions asking him to reinstate the relieving principal for term one, however he did not respond to her, rather he sent a letter to member for Bathurst Paul Toole.
“[Mr Piccoli] said he won’t be intervening and he doesn’t want to politicise the issue,” she said.
A DEC spokesperson said previously the department had a statewide staffing process designed to ensure that every school, regardless of location, was staffed with highly qualified teachers and principals.
“The position of principal at Carcoar Public School has been filled according to the Department of Education and Communities staffing procedures.”
The P&C members also sent a petition with 1200 signatures to Mr Piccoli calling on him to intervene and reinstate the relieving principal who will not have a job at the school this year.
She said Mr Park gave assurances that he would raise the issue however the government goes into caretaker mode next week ahead of the state election in March.
Mrs Parker said parents had considered taking students out of class as part of strike action but decided against it because there was not unanimous support.
nicole.kuter@fairfaxmedia.com.au
