Review of overturned expulsions calls for changes

A REVIEW into overturned school expulsions has called for changes as further details emerge over a schoolgirl poison murder plot.

A REVIEW into overturned school expulsions has called for changes as further details emerge over a schoolgirl poison murder plot.

The independent inquiry investigated two cases where students’ expulsions had been overturned, exposed by the Herald Sun in February.

In his review, Independent Office for School Dispute Resolution chair Frank Handy made five recommendations to reduce the aftermath of an expulsion on a school community and ensure it was the only available choice — they add to a sweeping list of changes announced by the government in the week the issue was revealed.

STAFF FOIL SCHOOLGIRL MURDER PLOT

INVESTIGATION ORDERED INTO SCHOOL POISON PLAN

Two schoolgirls researched the effects of swallowing a chemical, which one of the students had stolen from her science class.

In the first case, two schoolgirls aged 11 and 12 researched online the effects of swallowing a chemical, which the older student had stolen from her science class at their northern suburbs high school.

They discovered the chemical, which they stored in a plastic cup in the 12-year-old’s pigeon hole, “could seriously harm or, in large enough amounts, kill a person”.

The pair told school friends “that there was a plan to put the chemical in (another girl’s) drink bottle to kill her”, the report found.

The girl who stole and stored the chemicals had earlier claimed, along with her mother, that the intended victim, also 12, had bullied her.

EXPULSION PROCESS OF DANGEROUS STUDENTS OVERHAULED

She kept the chemicals for “six or more weeks”, which were only discovered by teachers when the 11-year-old girl told her foster mother, who informed school officials.

Both girls were expelled — the mother of the 12-year-old appealed the principal’s decision while the 11-year-old was taken out of foster care and returned to her home state, where she was placed in residential care.

When the 12-year-old’s expulsion was overturned and she returned to the school, the victim obtained an intervention order, then “as a result of continuing anxiety” she left the school.

The offender remains at the school, with the review finding “no recurrence of any similar behaviour”.

In another case, a girl, 12, expelled from her previous school was again expelled following repeated bad behaviour, including threatening another student during home economics with a knife for “fun” and persistent bullying of a pupil who staff attempted to protect.

When her expulsion was overturned, the principal resigned.

Mr Handy, who completed the expulsions review, said in the event of an expulsion, not everybody was going to be happy but “communication and relationship management is the fundamental piece”.

“When that breaks down, that’s when there’s issues,” he said.

”There’s much more awareness now of violence being an extension of something else — the basic point is to get onto it sooner and sooner.”

Mr Handy’s recommendations include stronger communication and guidance for schools towards alternatives to suspensions or expulsions, periodic reviews of expulsion data, and additional support in the aftermath of an expulsion.

Education Minister James Merlino has accepted the review’s recommendations.

Education Minister James Merlino said all of Mr Handy’s recommendations had been accepted “to ensure schools and principals have appropriate support when considering any expulsions”.

“Expulsions should only ever be a last resort, and it’s vital that if a student is expelled everyone involved has confidence in the process,” he said.

“Our system must be fair and transparent to all involved and that’s why we have overhauled the appeals process so that principals and students, including victims, have a voice.”

A Department of Education spokesman said it was “already implementing or working towards” Mr Handy’s recommendations, while “many of the issues that caused concern in the past have been addressed by the new requirements … which came into effect on July 16”.

“These changes are designed to ensure that the expulsion process is both rigorous and fair, principals are well supported, and the wellbeing and education of all students is prioritised,” he said.

Fewer than 300 students were expelled in 2016 with 22 decisions appealed and eight overturned.

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