Tamborine Mountain State High defamation: Parent tells court son a victim of ‘evil school’

A parent being sued by the principal of Tamborine Mountain State High has told a court her 12-year-old son was the “victim of an evil school” after he was expelled.

A PARENT being sued for defamation by a Gold Coast high school principal has dramatically told a court: “My son is no monster.”

Donna Baluskas is one of eight parents being sued by long-serving Tamborine Mountain State High principal Tracey Brose in a $1 million-plus landmark lawsuit.

Tamborine Mountain State High School principal Tracey Brose defamation case

Judge’s extraordinary warning to Tamborine Mountain principal and parents in defamation trial

Mrs Brose was allegedly called an ‘evil, nasty woman’ and a ‘lying manipulative bully’ in social media posts after Mrs Brose was mysteriously suspended in early 2016 before being reinstated four months later, according to court documents.

Donna Baluskas is involved in a legal dispute with Mt Tamborine State School Principal Tracey Brose. Picture: Jason O'Brien

The reasons for her suspension have never been publicly revealed.

The court has been told that Mrs Brose expelled Mrs Baluskas’s 12-year-old son after a school bus incident where he allegedly asked a boy, 5, to show his penis and spoke about a female student being willing to give oral sex.

Mrs Baluskas today cross-examined the school’s deputy principal, Graham Locastro, who conducted the investigation into the 2014 bus incident.

Tamborine Mountain State High Principal Tracey Brose. Pics Adam Head

Under cross-examination, Mr Locastro denied Mrs Baluskas’s son was called a ‘sexual predator’ during a meeting with him and Mrs Brose.

“Are you being untruthful?” Mrs Baluskas asked.

“No I am not,” Mr Locastro replied.

Mrs Baluskas: “I say you are.”

Mr Locastro: “I disagree. I was in the room and it didn’t happen.”

Mrs Baluskas suggested Mr Locastro had tried to ‘force a confession’ out of her son.

Judge Catherine Muir refused to allow the question and said she understood Mrs Baluskas’s son had admitted to the bus incident and apologised to the five-year-old boy.

“Mr Locastro has falsely accused (the Baluskas boy) of things that didn’t happen,” Mrs Baluskas told the court.

“My son is no monster. There’s a lot of flaws in this investigation which is what I’m going to prove.”

Mrs Brose has previously denied having called Mrs Baluskas’s son a sexual predator.

Mrs Baluskas suggested that her son was the ‘victim of an evil school’ and that staff had covered up the actions of ‘an equally evil principal’.

“I put it to you, this school, in my case, made an evil decision to benefit the school and almost cost my son’s life?” she asked Mr Locastro.

Judge Muir over-ruled the questions.