Why Francis missed almost a year at school

WHAT does the Department of Education do to speedily ensure effective educational provision for children who have been with drawn from a mainstream school and whose parents, despite their best efforts, have failed to place them elsewhere? Francis Noonan is a 15-year-old Howth, Co Dublin, boy who was withdrawn from the Donahies Community School in Dublin by his parents in November of last year. Geraldine and Frank Noonan say that, if they had not done so, they believe he would have been expelled because of his poor behaviour.

The principal of the school, Patrick Hickey, says that Francis was withdrawn, not expelled. He is not prepared to comment on whether or not the boy faced expulsion if the Noonans had not withdrawn him.

A Department of Education spokesman says: "The mother took the child out of school. She contributed to the difficulty. She voluntarily took the child out."

Three months after, Francis was diagnosed as having Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) by Dr Joseph McMenamin, consultant paediatric neurologist at Our Lady's Hospital in Crumlin.

Dr Paul McQuaid, consultant psychiatrist and medical director of the department of child and family psychiatry at the Mater Hospital in Dublin, explains that ADHD makes it difficult for children to concentrate. With hyperactivity they're up and about in the classroom and unable to sustain silence. Francis was only in second year, despite his age.

Immediately after withdrawing him, Geraldine contacted the Department of Education and asked what she should do to find a new school for Francis. She was told she had to look for another school for her son. If she failed, she was to send all the letters of refusal into the post-primary section of the Department.

She approached several schools but none would accept her son. In March, she wrote to the Department asking it to help her to find a place for her son, enclosing the letters of refusal and two medical reports, including Dr McMenamin's confirmation that Francis had ADHD.

By now Francis hadn't been in school for four months. But, according to an internal Department memo, it wasn't until April 30th - more than seven weeks later - that a Department inspector was requested to assist with the placement of Francis in an alternative school".

A further two-and-a-half-months passed before the inspector acted on that request - four months after Geraldine had written asking for help. By now, Francis hadn't been in school for eight months. The designated inspector advised Geraldine to try Parnell Vocational School in Dublin city. This she did, but by now the principal of that school was on holidays. An official in the post-primary section also gave her a list of some four other schools to contact. Those to which Francis could feasibly commute were all already full.

The internal Department memo of August 31st last - five-and-a-half-months after Geraldine's letter and nine-and-a-half months since Francis had last been at school - recorded: "All the inspectors are on leave at present, so I cannot request any further assistance from the inspector who has dealt with this case for the moment."

The Minister for Education, Niamh Bhreathnach, has declined to comment on the matter. A spokesman referred us to her written Dail answer of October 31st in which she said that"in cases such as this, my Department endeavours, by a process of consultation with school management, to have the pupil in question placed in a school in his locality. These efforts, which by their nature can take some time, are ongoing in this case and every effort is being made to find an appropriate placement."

Without the Department's help, Geraldine succeeded in placing Francis at St Joseph's Adolescent Centre in Fairview, Dublin, for a four-week stint beginning last September. That period was extended but it will come to a definitive end next Friday.

A Department spokesman told us on November 7th: "As recently as yesterday we asked the inspector to seek an urgent placement in a school for the child."

Geraldine and Frank Noonan believe that there are hundreds of children in Francis's situation. Frank Noonan says that he believes that the Department just doesn't want to know: "There doesn't seem to be anyone responsible. You're just left totally on your own, without any help."