Parents only learned board had quit in back to school letter

A number of parents of children attending a Cork City primary school have expressed concern at the manner in which they were informed of the resignation of the board of management.

Parents of children attending Scoil Bhríde, Eglantine, only learned that the board had stepped down by way of a welcome-back-to-school letter sent home with their children after they returned to school following the summer break.

The letter, signed by the school principal Eoin Kennedy, and dated August 31, the day after the new term started, advised parents that the outgoing board had stood down and that a single manager would “perform the functions of the board until a new one is formed”.

The letter, which also contained the usual back-to-school information about punctuality, parking, uniforms and voluntary contributions, said the single manager, Pat Kinsella, had been appointed by the Patron — the Bishop of the Diocese of Cork and Ross.

Parents who spoke to the Irish Examiner on condition of anonymity said they were unhappy with the manner in which they had been told and at a failure to explain in the letter why the board had stepped down.

Mr Kinsella told the Irish Examiner that the timeline for communicating with parents had been tight; that he understood the board had stood down at the end of June, that he was approached in early July, and that the process had to be approved by the Department of Education, which was done “mid to late July”.

He was then formally invited to take on the role of single manager, and spent the next few weeks reading himself into his brief. Mr Kinsella said an initial email was sent to teaching staff confirming his appointment in “mid-to-late August” followed by a meeting with teaching staff on August 29, where the agreed priority was to communicate the changes to parents.

“The timeline in that respect was very reasonable; it couldn’t have gone out before that,” Mr Kinsella said.

He said he has been engaging with parents on an ongoing basis and feedback has been positive. He said he will continue to meet groups of parents between now and Christmas to ensure everyone is fully briefed.

The trigger for the board stepping down was a largely negative whole school evaluation (WSE) report following a Department of Education inspection in 2016.

A follow-up inspection this year found good progress in some areas, but “significant scope for the principal, in consultation with the in-school management team and the teachers, to ensure the prioritisation, implementation and ongoing review of areas for development in teaching and in learning”.

The quality of teaching was not criticised.

Mr Kinsella said the board stepped down because they believed the best way to drive the WSE recommendations was to appoint a single manager.

Figures from the department show just nine primary schools out of 3,252 nationwide (1.17%) appointed a single manager in the past three years following a resignation of the board.

The department said it is “not a regular occurrence”.