School head suspended
Brian Isaacs faces string of charges
THE WESTERN Cape Education Department has suspended controversial South Peninsula High School principal Brian Isaacs with immediate effect.
Over the past few months the department has brought a string of charges against Isaacs while he has also made several appearances in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court, where he is accused of transgressing noise nuisance by-laws related to announcements made over the school’s PA system.
Isaacs said his legal representative received a letter from the department last week informing them that he had been suspended with immediate effect “due to the seriousness of the allegations against you”.
“Your suspension is a precautionary measure and does not form part of any sanction against you,” it read.
The letter states that Isaacs would not be allowed to contact any staff or governing body member or enter the school premises “at any time until otherwise informed”.
The department’s spokesman, Paddy Attwell, said the letter of suspension followed a notice of intention to suspend, which had been handed to Isaacs on February 26.
He said the notice informed Isaacs that they had received complaints that amounted to serious misconduct while two other misconduct matters were pending.
“The notice asked Mr Isaacs to give reasons why the department should not suspend him. The department did not accept the response provided on Thursday, 3 March 2016, and issued the notice of suspension today (Friday).”
Last month, the Cape Argus reported that a disciplinary hearing by the WCED had found Isaacs guilty on four out of six charges. The four charges that he was found guilty of were: assaulting a pupil “by hitting him against the back or shoulder blade”; conducting himself “in an improper, disgraceful and unacceptable manner” towards two pupils by uttering “more or less” the following words, “You are all scum”; intimidating or victimising two pupils by refusing to let them go to class on several days; and failing to carry out a lawful order or routine instruction without just or reasonable cause by not following an instruction from an official to ensure the two pupils return to school.
He has maintained his innocence and said he would oppose the outcome of his hearing. No sanction has yet been imposed in this case. He said the magistrate’s court had withdrawn charges against him for the same assault case.
The second disciplinary hearing against Isaacs relates to a number of misconduct charges, two of which relate to letters published in the Cape Argus last year in which he criticised the department, and a charge that he had showed disrespect to an official. This matter has not been concluded.
On Friday, Isaacs said: “I will be applying for an urgent interdict against the department to enable me to return to my post. They are conducting a witch-hunt against me. This is an attack on my integrity.”
He has previously stated the department was targeting him because he had, over the years, spoken out against certain policies and decisions it had taken. The department has denied this. In January the school received an award from the department for their excellent matric results last year.