Glemsford Primary suspended staff and Governors accuse County Council of "threats"

This Blog has reported before on the cautionary tale of Glemsford Primary School and the “free” laptops that turned out to be anything but free. With the school facing bills of around half a million pounds the County Council moved to suspend staff and then the Governing Body.

Headteacher Liz Steele and her son James Locker-Steele the school’s IT Technician have both been suspended since January whilst allegations of serious professional misconduct were investigated.

The story took another twist yesterday when the suspended staff and Governors accused Suffolk County Council of making “threats” to staff. The following news report appeared on BBC East:

Click to see the BBC News Report

I am not quite sure what to make of this report.  On the one hand it seems hard on the staff and Governors but without hearing both what the County Council have found and the Steeles response (they are currently banned from speaking to the media) it is hard to judge the situation.

But I am not sure a video from a pub with an endorsement from the school caretaker and then local MP Tim Yeo wading in is gong to be that helpful.

That said I can understand their frustration and I do think that this needs to be brought to a head as soon as possible now so that the school and the Steele family can get on with their lives. Whatever the rights and wrongs it must be a really difficult time for them now.