By Eryk Bagshaw
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The 16-year-old boy who police believe recruited teenager Farhad Jabar to an extremist lunchtime prayer group has been suspended but not expelled from Arthur Phillip High School, but parents have not been told of the decision.
It is understood that, before shooting NSW Police employee Curtis Cheng in the back of the head last Friday, Jabar was drawn into the prayer group by the boy, one of his year 10 classmates.
The pair regularly attended the same sessions at Parramatta Mosque, which Jabar visited before carrying out the attack on the State Crime Command last week.
The 16-year-old, who cannot be named, was charged last year for driving past a Christian school in Harris Park, yelling death threats and waving an Islamic State flag.
A man is arrested in Wentworthville on Wednesday.Credit: NSW Police
A Department of Education spokesman said the school had suspended the student and the department was assisting NSW Police, so it would be inappropriate to comment on it further.
Parents and students have remained in the dark about the developments, being unaware that the 16-year-old had been arrested or suspended on Thursday.
The last message that parents received about the events from the school was on Tuesday, after a 17-year-old student was arrested for allegedly threatening police.
Multiple parents and students told Fairfax Media on Thursday that they had not heard anything from the school about the 16-year-old.
Police arrest a suspect in Wentworthville on Wednesday.Credit: Police Multimedia
"They should be doing more for our children's security," a parent of a child in year 10 said.
The onus has been on parents to contact the school for further information about events.
Arthur Phillip High School.Credit: James Brickwood
"In these instances, an executive member of staff responds via phone," a spokesman said.
"No calls have been received about the 16-year-old student who was questioned but not charged by NSW Police."
Lunchtime prayer groups: Parramatta Mosque.Credit: James Brickwood
The spokesman said the school had communicated with parents and members of the community electronically and on paper about how it was ensuring the wellbeing of students.
"The department does not tolerate anti-social behaviour of any sort and acts quickly to discipline any student involved."
The building housing Parramatta Mosque.Credit: Eryk Bagshaw
The concerns of parents about the activities of students at Arthur Phillip comes as pressure mounts on the release of the audit of prayer groups by the state government.
"It is urgent there is peace of mind for parents sending their children off to school and that this is being dealt with seriously, instead of a clumsy, reactive approach," Deputy Opposition Leader Linda Burney said.
Ms Burney said the warning signs had been there for long enough.
"It would have been prudent for the Department [of Education] to have had something in place well before now," she said.
A spokeswoman for NSW Minister for Education Adrian Piccoli said a whole government approach would be announced in due course.
"Over the past year, the NSW government has been engaging stakeholders on a plan to tackle this issue within the wider community, including school communities," she said.
NOTE: An earlier version of this story was changed for legal reasons.