School in threat to ban parents who speak out

An Auckland school that made two of its pupils apologise to the Warriors for allegedly asking visiting players about the team’s poor performance has threatened to ban parents who “undermine” the school on social media.

Blockhouse Bay Intermediate principal Michael Malins last week confirmed to the Weekend Herald two boys who asked questions deemed “disrespectful” to the school’s guests had “time to think about their actions and wrote letters of apology”.

The Weekend Herald understands one student asked why the team were so bad, and a second pupil asked where the team sat on the points table, during the school visit in early September.

After last weekend’s story, the school sent a letter to parents signed by board of trustees chairman Russell Matthews which said parents who spoke out about the school were in breach of its “very clear procedures”.

“A number of parents have been vocal in discrediting the school through social media. I can be clear that while we will continue to welcome their children, parents who use social media to undermine our staff and community will no longer be welcome in our school,” the letter says.

Matthews wrote that he encouraged “all parents as members of our community and with students in the school to follow the school’s procedures” and that the board was proud of the school’s “Positive Behaviour for Learning” stance and supported its leaderships and “commitment to developing resilient students”.

Malins declined to comment on the letter, and Matthews could not be reached. The letter, dated September 26, also said the school had been “unable to engage any further with the media to provide factual clarity” to protect students privacy.

A Ministry of Education spokeswoman, Katrina Casey, was satisfied the school had “acted appropriately and in the best interests of the students involved, the school and the wider school community”.

“There was more to the incident than has been reported. The school’s leadership and Board of Trustees have high expectations around the behaviour of their students and felt it was important all their students understood there were consequences to their actions.”

Despite the contents of the letter, Casey said the school wouldn’t ban parents who criticised it on social media.

Dr Bill Hodge, an expert in criminal law at the University of Auckland, confirmed a school could trespass people who interfered with the school but it would still be “pretty outrageous” if parents were banned.

Council for Civil Liberties spokesman Thomas Beagle said it seemed “very, very silly”.