Wales: Headteacher sues for Islamophobic accusations
BITTER religious divisions on a primary school's governing body plunged the headteacher into acute depression and destroyed her career, a leading judge was told yesterday.
Erica Connor of Skenfrith, Abergavenny, says her nerves were left shattered by "harassment" and a string of "vituperative" complaints against her while she was head of the New Monument School in Woking, Surrey, which has a high proportion of pupils from an Islamic background.
Now, in the first case of its kind, the 57-year-old – who says she was left as a "helpless scapegoat" – is seeking hundreds of thousands of pounds in compensation from Surrey County Council, claiming her bosses did not do enough to support her.
Her barrister, Joel Donovan, told the High Court in London the school's academic performance had steadily improved after Ms Connor's appointment as headteacher in 1998.
But her troubles started in 2003 when four Muslim governors were appointed, including Paul Martin, as a parent governor, and Mumtaz Saleem as a nominee of the local education authority. The barrister added: "From late 2003, Mr Martin raised a number of complaints regarding the ethos and policies of the school, its stance towards Islam, its links with the Muslim community and Ms Connor's management.
"These issues, and attacks on Ms Connor by Mr Saleem, came to characterise meetings of the governing body too."
Mr Donovan said Ms Connor had several times contacted her bosses at Surrey County Council "to register her concerns about the activities of Mr Martin and Mr Saleem, their effect on the school, its governance and its staff" and to ask for help.
But he told Judge John Leighton Williams QC: "Her case is that her concerns and requests for help nevertheless fell largely on deaf ears."
A review by external consultants of the school's governance was carried out and Mr Donovan said the resulting report "found no evidence of racism, Islamophobia or religious bias, as Mr Martin had previously alleged.
"It criticised the governing body as divided and dysfunctional."
(..)
The council wrote to parents saying it had no evidence the allegations against Ms Connor were true and reiterating the school's acquittal of racism or Islamophobia.
But tensions continued and Mr Donovan told the judge: "One evening around this time, Ms Connor was confronted by a group of youths on leaving the school."
Ms Connor continued to complain that the council was not supporting her and Mr Donovan said that, by that stage, she was "desperate and her health was being affected".
Her deputy headteacher went off sick, suffering from stress, but the barrister claimed that signs of breakdown in staff morale were "very largely ignored" by the council.
In July 2005, the council commissioned a further investigation and, in their report, two consultants "criticised Ms Connor and her perceptions of multiculturalism, concluding that the school 'had not been responsive to the needs of the faith community'," said Mr Donovan. The barrister added that Ms Connor was allowed to view the critical report only one hour before a council officer gave a presentation of its findings "to an angry staff meeting".
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Source: Wales Online (English)
BITTER religious divisions on a primary school's governing body plunged the headteacher into acute depression and destroyed her career, a leading judge was told yesterday.
Erica Connor of Skenfrith, Abergavenny, says her nerves were left shattered by "harassment" and a string of "vituperative" complaints against her while she was head of the New Monument School in Woking, Surrey, which has a high proportion of pupils from an Islamic background.
Now, in the first case of its kind, the 57-year-old – who says she was left as a "helpless scapegoat" – is seeking hundreds of thousands of pounds in compensation from Surrey County Council, claiming her bosses did not do enough to support her.
Her barrister, Joel Donovan, told the High Court in London the school's academic performance had steadily improved after Ms Connor's appointment as headteacher in 1998.
But her troubles started in 2003 when four Muslim governors were appointed, including Paul Martin, as a parent governor, and Mumtaz Saleem as a nominee of the local education authority. The barrister added: "From late 2003, Mr Martin raised a number of complaints regarding the ethos and policies of the school, its stance towards Islam, its links with the Muslim community and Ms Connor's management.
"These issues, and attacks on Ms Connor by Mr Saleem, came to characterise meetings of the governing body too."
Mr Donovan said Ms Connor had several times contacted her bosses at Surrey County Council "to register her concerns about the activities of Mr Martin and Mr Saleem, their effect on the school, its governance and its staff" and to ask for help.
But he told Judge John Leighton Williams QC: "Her case is that her concerns and requests for help nevertheless fell largely on deaf ears."
A review by external consultants of the school's governance was carried out and Mr Donovan said the resulting report "found no evidence of racism, Islamophobia or religious bias, as Mr Martin had previously alleged.
"It criticised the governing body as divided and dysfunctional."
(..)
The council wrote to parents saying it had no evidence the allegations against Ms Connor were true and reiterating the school's acquittal of racism or Islamophobia.
But tensions continued and Mr Donovan told the judge: "One evening around this time, Ms Connor was confronted by a group of youths on leaving the school."
Ms Connor continued to complain that the council was not supporting her and Mr Donovan said that, by that stage, she was "desperate and her health was being affected".
Her deputy headteacher went off sick, suffering from stress, but the barrister claimed that signs of breakdown in staff morale were "very largely ignored" by the council.
In July 2005, the council commissioned a further investigation and, in their report, two consultants "criticised Ms Connor and her perceptions of multiculturalism, concluding that the school 'had not been responsive to the needs of the faith community'," said Mr Donovan. The barrister added that Ms Connor was allowed to view the critical report only one hour before a council officer gave a presentation of its findings "to an angry staff meeting".
(more)
Source: Wales Online (English)
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