Strike action put on hold as school drafts in security guards and CCTV

A TEACHER was allegedly threatened with a screwdriver by a pupil at a school which has drafted in security guards.

Strike action was postponed at Kilkenny City VEC after it was agreed that CCTV cameras and security guards would be put in place in a bid to stamp out unruly behaviour by a handful of pupils.

Gardaí have confirmed that they have already launched three investigations at the school and files are being prepared, with some already sent, to the DPP in relation to incidents ranging from fires to a stabbing threat.

VEC chief executive officer (CEO) Roger Curran said the move to hire security for the school and install CCTV was not unique and such security systems were being introduced in a number of other schools around the country.

He said the cameras were being brought in because people had been found wandering the school and through its corridors.

Security staff will monitor the area within the building and outside.

“There is a perception that this school is some sort of a blackboard jungle. It’s not. The staff were concerned that people had been found on school property.

“CCTV is quite common in schools and we’re monitoring the situation with a security person on the premises during school hours for a number of weeks,” the CEO added.

Gardaí have been called to the school on a number of occasions. In the six week run-up to the Easter break, there were six separate break-ins at the school.

On another occasion, a pupil was allegedly found on school property with a screwdriver. Another pupil told a teacher to “watch out” or that pupil might use it on him.

Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) members at the school have postponed a walk-out for a fortnight, pending the success of the security measures planned. They have already balloted in favour of industrial action because of key health and safety concerns.

Three separate, independent reports have been compiled on the school but have not been published for legal reasons.

Last December a report by the CEO of Co Waterford VEC, Paddy Lavelle, found that some students were being paid €50 a week to stay in school.

Those payments were made without the authorisation of the VEC in Kilkenny and were from an unknown source.

The independent report also uncovered that students on the school roll since September 2004 had not been in school since September.

“Some students who were alleged to have been paid to go to school were not known by teachers to be in their class even though they were on the school roll,” the report found.

TUI general secretary Jim Dorney said three outstanding reports on the school have to be acted on. He said there were issues which members wanted resolved and the threat of closing the school for a day had been postponed to allow these issues to be addressed.

“There are measures which we want taken to ensure the health and safety of students and teachers in the short term. We are confident that when the present difficulties are overcome that the school will be functioning very well,” he added.