School trustee affair with pupil

[Silverbook55]

DC are at a private school which has already publicly stated they are in financial difficulties. As part of the school “restructure” some new trustees have been brought in the board. One of them is an ex teacher who ran the boarding house and had a relationship with a 6th year pupil.

For context- he was married at the time. The affair was discovered in Oct AFTER the pupil had technically left the school 2 months previously. I know this as my DH was friendly with him through a shared sports club, it was common knowledge in the town but never publicly addressed by the school. The teacher separated (now divorced) his wife and didn’t return to the school following the holidays but got a job at another private school.

This was about 15 years ago. I know have DC at his old school where he’s been invited back as a trustee to help restructure the school out of financial difficulties but I have a real issue with this given his past behaviour there which I don’t think reflects values a school should be upholding.

So- do I raise my issue with the school or not?
Any suggestions as how best to word any communication with them?

YABU- don’t do anything
YANBU- raise it

Has he been working in schools for the 15 years between this happening and now?

This would be a major issue now but not sure about 15 years ago. I'm guessing Scotland as they finish at 17 often but I don't know anything about Scottish safeguarding laws (I'm a safeguarding officer in England).

If, and big if, the relationship started after the young person left the school and the teacher also left the school at the same point it sounds like no action was taken as no complaint (the parents of the young person didn't raise it? Of course rumours are always true so it is not an easy matter for schools. 15 years later many current staff would have no idea, but I would consider having a private word with the safeguarding lead.

How has this got through the “safer recruitment” for schools checks? You should ask that

The issue would be has he the power to further move the culture of the school.

As he is reorganising he has power over jobs.
So specificly staff reporting sexual misconduct by other staff against a student are reporting into a culture where prior misconduct is not a barrier to appointment into a senior role.

So the interview panel were either not aware of the gossip 'changed school due to sex scandal' (unlikely as teaching/teachers would be a small population with in the area) or knew and hired anyway.

Something similar happened at my child’s school. Nothing happened for a number of years. Eventually there were other issues tied in with it all with claims of staff being bullied out etc. Rumours of threats to pupils etc etc. It was hard as a parent to know what was actually going on and what was just wild speculation.

The school has an excellent academic reputation and the pupils are very switched on and passionate about what is morally right and they refused to let everything go away. Eventually due to a few pupils and staff getting fed up with stuff going on there was some whistleblowing, the local newspaper got involved, investigations happened, staff member got sacked, new board of governors happened, change of headteacher etc etc.

my children have left now so I’m not in the know with how things are now. I work in a school myself so know how parents can get completely the wrong end of the stick sometimes and the wild rumours can be hilarious, but there was clearly something in that story as it wouldn’t go away. It’s not right that things should be brushed under the carpet.

I don't think there is anything here to report OP, and I'm looking at the legal rather than moral position, for the following reasons:

Proof: You cannot positively prove any of this happened, or happened in the timescale that could have made it illegal - really only the girl would be in a position to make any sort of complaint after all this time.

The Regulations Now: The regulations now prevent a teacher entering into a relationship with someone they are in a position of trust over under the age of 18, even with the current laws on this, if there was no proof it began until the October, long after the situation of trust had ended, without a complaint from the girl or her parents, unlikely to be looked in to IMHO

The Regulations Then: Remember the whole field of safeguarding has, thankfully moved on in the past 15 years, The Teachers Standards (which do not apply to private schools in the same form as state) were not published until 2011 and safeguarding was not a major thing in schools as it is today until the education act of 2012.
I can vividly remember the induction session when I joined a sixth form college as a lecturer in 2010 when we were told that if we entered into a relationship with a student that we needed to inform the registry so we were taken off assessment of their work.

I suspect that nothing Illegal can be proven, morally gross, but that's not enforceable.

I would forget about it

Is he still in a relationship with the young lady?

Under the circumstances I wouldn't say anything. Unless you feel current children are in danger if he takes this on.

This is a difficult one.

On the one hand, it’s been 15 years. He’s been working in another school for that length of time without any further issues being raised or his conduct being questioned. The affair was known about at the time and nothing was done - presumably because the child’s family made no complaint and it’s likely there was no evidence the relationship had begun during her time at school. He seems to have built a successful career and is highly regarded by his fellow professionals, so it would seem he’s not done anything in the intervening years to warrant a question mark over his professional competency. I might also add that when I was at school - and I left school 20 years ago - two of my teachers had relationships with sixth formers while I was there, one of them in my year group - and they both went on to get married and both teachers kept their jobs. There were different standards then and both of the teachers were only about 5 years older than the pupils they had affairs with. It therefore doesn’t surprise me that this was not considered an issue at the time and he’s not suffered any professional consequences.

However, on the other hand, he had an affair with a pupil - regardless of when it started or happened, it’s an abuse of power and a safeguarding concern. A huge breach of professional conduct like that could be suggestive of a problematic approach towards professional standards and boundaries. There is also the reality that his past is public knowledge and it’s not a good look for the school to have parents gossiping about a trustee who is known to have behaved inadvisably with a pupil while previously working at the school. It can be said that a leopard never changes its spots and if he’s done it once, he can do it again. Now we do have stricter safeguarding controls and standards than 15 years ago, his past behaviour should be seen as problematic and the school should be holding him to account for it.

I’m a teacher myself and I would have no respect or trust in a colleague who started a relationship with a pupil, even after they left school. It smacks of a lack of boundaries and professional judgement. We should not be thinking about our pupils in a sexual light, ever.

For that reason, I would raise it to the school safeguarding officer. I would keep it factual and unemotional and say something like, ‘I knew X when he worked here 15 years ago as he is a friend of my husband’s. I therefore know at that time he had a sexual relationship with a pupil at the school. I consider it problematic that a man who had a relationship with a pupil while working here is now being invited to be a trustee at the school. I would appreciate an explanation as to why you feel that a man who has breached safeguarding policy in this way in the past is an appropriate person to lead this school out of difficulties, when he was not able to behave in a professional manner when he worked here previously.’

And then wait for a response.

If you’re not happy with the response you can take it further to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO).

Contact the school’s DSL (Designated Safeguarding Lead) to raise this as a concern.

Yes I would raise it. All the safeguarding training we have had points to that as an action.

EnidSpyton's wording is perfect.

This is an important point, my Geography teacher, back in the 90's started a relationship with one of my classmates, she was still at school, would have been 17 - lots of raised eyebrows, but hushed up. He was in fact an NQT of about 23 (we thought he was ancient)

They have just celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary, have 4 kids, he's the deputy head of the same school and she is head of maths there.

Time and context change things, you couldn't really make a complaint about that.

Whilst I agree with your sentiment, this is problematic IMHO

I would appreciate an explanation as to why you feel that a man who has breached safeguarding policy in this way in the past is an appropriate person to lead this school out of difficulties, when he was not able to behave in a professional manner when he worked here previously.’

is problematic, did the person in question break the rules as they were then and indeed would his actions that we aware of even break rules now.

Furthermore can any of it be proved, and could the OP be accused of slander, a very real law, now by going down a road.

I’d raise a complaint with the school - trustees also have to ensure the reputation of the charity is protected so it’s not just a potential safeguarding issue, but a reputational one. That way the school can actually respond to it as a complaint. If it’s one of those things that is “not technically illegal but immoral” then the Trustee Board need to front that out or stand him down.

I'd say that is the most likely approach to be fruitful, it was unlikely illegal, but could bring the school into disrepute - a much easier way for the school to quietly dispense with him.

@YourAzureEagle

I do see your point.

Safeguarding legislation changed in the 2010s so without exact dates and also a location - OP has said she’s not in England - we don’t know what was law at the time.

However for me this is less about the letter of the law and more about professional standards.

Regardless of what was allowed at the time, it’s still problematic that a teacher is having a sexual relationship with a pupil. Teachers are in loco parentis for our pupils during the school day and we have a duty to keep them safe from harm. We should never be thinking about them sexually and a teacher who does should not be in the job. We also have a power and authority over our pupils which makes any ‘relationship’ between a teacher and pupil unequal from the get go. Any teacher who enters into a sexual relationship with a pupil has taken advantage of that unequal power relationship, even if the child thinks the relationship is consensual. Just because something was technically legal at the time doesn’t make it ok and it doesn’t stop that person’s morality and professionalism from being called into question.

For those reasons I would still report it. It may be considered that there’s no risk and no case to answer and I would accept that - it’s been a long time, the man may deeply regret his past actions and never have put a foot wrong since - but it may also be that he is the type of bloke who has created a cult of personality around himself, who has been operating in plain sight for many years, and who is considered untouchable by his colleagues. Every teacher has worked with one. He may still have an overly flirtatious relationship with female students and be disrespecting professional boundaries but because he’s never actually done anything anyone can report him for, he gets away with it.

So I would say something. The OP could be doing a lot of kids a favour in doing so. You just never know.

I would raise complaint with LADO. I don’t think school would make a big effort to explain it to a parent (at least because there is a privacy issues in this) but to the LA they would have to.

I think I know which school this is - please report it.

Is it the school that has had the safeguarding leads for decades... ?

I’m unsure who the leads are or how long they’ve been there.