School board row could escalate

A CORK secondary school that does not have parent and teacher representation on its board of management could be challenged legally on the issue.

The last day of the ASTI’s annual conference heard that Ashton College was the only Protestant comprehensive school not to include such representation.

Jim King, Donegal, a member of the union’s CEC Advisory Committee, said one of the five Protestant comprehensive schools had still not provided teacher and parent representation on the board of management.

“There is still one member who have failed to do what the Education Act asked it to do and provide representation on the management board for parents and teachers,” he said yesterday, adding that Ashton College in Cork had still not fulfilled its obligations.

He wanted to assure those involved with Ashton that “the sky will not fall in” if they change policy to allow such representation.

Another speaker said the committee had written a number of letters to the school steward at Ashton on the issue, claiming: “I am tired of listening to the different churches putting forward their point of view but when it suits them they want to play it their way.”

Susie Hall, Dublin North East, said almost all Protestant comprehensive schools were now in the fold, but the fact that one school was not would mean that the ASTI would not stop talking about it until it is done.

“Whether or not the churches deal in centuries rather than real time, that is their problem,” she said, adding that she had spoken to Bishop of Cork, Paul Colton, in relation to the issue, and that the time had possibly come to challenge it legally.

She said the teachers at the school needed to be treated with the same parity and esteem as other teachers, adding “it is just not acceptable any more”.