Ashburton College Principal Ross Preece (pictured) and Board of Trustees' chair Jen Muir have said its independent policy review was "very thorough". Photo: LDR / Jonathan Leask
Ashburton College heads have done their best to pacify community concerns over suggestions that no student bullying complaints reached the principal or the board in the past five years.
Principal Ross Preece and Board of Trustees' (BOT) chairperson Jen Muir tried to do that in a joint statement about the independent review findings into multiple bullying allegations at the college, which were exposed on national television in damning stories in September.
One paragraph early in the report's executive summary by reviewer Suzie Sauer, who was recommended to the college to look into the incidents by the New Zealand School Trustees' Association, has caused community criticism and uncertainty.
Sauer wrote that "no complaints of student bullying behaviour were brought to the Ashburton College principal or Board of Trustees (BOT) between 2017 and the current date", even though some parents and guardians apparently provided Television New Zealand with evidence that they had been in direct contact with Preece about student bullying incidents.
Muir and Preece said there were student bullying incidents reported in that time but not of a threshold to be formally escalated to the principal or BOT.
"In a large school it would not be best practice for all anti-social behaviours, bullying concerns, or inter-personal issues to be handled in the initial stages by the principal," they said.
"However, the principal has an oversight role.
"If disciplinary action is required, then the formal delegation sits with the principal and then, depending on the outcome, may formally transfer to the board of trustees."
That response is not likely to wash with many Guardian Facebook followers, who responded in big numbers to the review findings. The post, that no student bullying complaints had reached the principal or the BOT, reached close to 8000 people.
"Well, by the looks of things, he [Preece] hasn't documented everything the way it should have been, if they can't find anything since 2017," Karlie Maxwell wrote.
Another Facebook follower, Sheryn Hales, called it a "joke", while Vania Hulse suggested it was "hilarious".
Reviewer Sauer, in analysing the credibility of the bullying complaints in her report, said the information gathered was "mixed due to some complexities".
One of those was that a large number of allegations were unsubstantiated, with no evidence found for or against.
In several incidents, it was also found that a student raising a bullying concern "had also been involved in conducting bullying behaviour themselves, so the case was handled accordingly".
Credibility issues or not, there were cases of bullying, and the report showed the college's handling of them was in accordance with its policy but with the recommendation it could do better in future.
One of those steps was announced before the report was released, with the college introducing a cellphone ban this year that would come into effect at the start of Term 1, 2023.
Preece and Muir also said recommendations revealed in the report to the college would be implemented by the start of the next school year.
"The key findings are around communication," they said.
"We will continue to reflect and refine this area as it is important that parents and students feel assured that a matter has been taken seriously and appropriate action taken."
Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air