School appeals to High Court to uphold boy’s expulsion

A secondary school which expelled a first year male pupil over an incident in a locker room with a female student has been given permission by the High Court to challenge a decision overturning his expulsion.

The court heard the boy was suspended last December following an incident in the locker area of the school in which the female student said something happened which was inappropriate. No further details of the incident were given in court.

The board of management initially suspended him and later expelled him.

His parents appealed the decision to the Department of Education which appointed a committee under Section 29 of the 1998 Education Act (known as a “Section 29 Committee) to consider the appeal.

The committee overturned the board’s decision and the board then sought a judicial a review in the High Court.

Counsel for the school said the Section 29 committee was obliged under the Act to reconsider the decision of the board of management but what had happened in this case was it (committee) had looked at whether the suspension procedures, taken before the expulsion decision, were correct and had decided they were not. This is not the function of the Section 29 committee, counsel said.

The boy’s parents had not attended the first meeting of the board when the expulsion decision was made but had turned up for a second meeting where the decision was confirmed. It had also been indicated by the boy’s mother that her son was being withdrawn and a place in another school would be found for him.

As a result of the Section 29 committee decision, he returned to the school for a few days at the end of the last term this year.

The school was anxious to have the matter dealt with by the High Court before the beginning of the new school term in September, the court was told.

Mr Justice Séamus Noonan granted leave to seek judicial review and said, because of the urgency of the matter, it should come back before him next week.

The application, which was against the secretary general of the Department of Education and Skills and members of the Section 29 committee, with the mother as a notice party, was brought on an ex-parte (one side only represented) basis.

Nothing can be published to identify the boy or the school, by order of the court.