Last Wednesday, in a joint union meeting, Copland staff passed unanimously the following vote of no confidence in the IEB (Interim Executive Board) drafted in to run the school by Brent council after the sacking of the democratically elected governing body last July. The resolution reflects the continuing and growing concerns of staff, parents and students on a range of legal, financial, democratic, procedural and professional matters.
The resolution, a copy of which has been forwarded to the head of the IEB, Grahame Price, reads:
Copland staff have no confidence in the IEB as they:
1. Continued and oversaw a massive, indiscriminate, hugely expensive voluntary redundancy programme in the summer that took no proper account of the curriculum and failed to protect it to the detriment of pupils' education and the school.
2. Failed to take action to improve the school’s intake
3. Failed to press action to get any of the money (£2.7 million) returned that was removed from the school under a previous administration, while at the same time claiming every cutback and redundancy was necessary on financial grounds.
4. Secretly applied to the DfE to turn Copland into an ARK academy without informing, never mind consulting, and not even providing a time line to staff or parents.
5. Have refused to allow an independently overseen secret ballot of staff or parents regarding their proposal, or properly negotiate on it,despite the Unions offer to pay for such a ballot.
6. Have engaged in a fundamentally flawed and unfair 'consultation' procedure over support staff redundancies and are seeking such wide scale redundancies both in teaching and support staff that theeducation and well being of the pupils can only be harmed.
7. Have adversely affected the school's finances by drastically reducing the 6th form numbers.
8. Have actively pursued an anti union agenda;
a) unilaterally abolishing the school's JCC
b) declining to formally consult the unions over the ARK proposal
c) unlawfully not allowing school union reps to go on training courses
Staff also voted unanimously :
That a complaint be made to all relevant authorities and bodies** on the basis of the no confidence motion and any other irregularities that come to light
**E.g. Brent Local Authority, Brent Audit and Investigation Department, The Audit Commission, Teacher unions, Michael Gove, DfE
That legal action be investigated following the successful judicial review by Barking and Dagenham Council in support of Warren Comprehensive school with a view to taking legal action over the attempt to force academisation without proper information or consultation.