New Governor at dd's school reported me to SS

[thingamajig]

Six years ago a neighbour reported me to Social Services, saying that I was starving/neglecting 8 week old dd. We were duly investigated and found to be perfectly good parents. Why the allegations were made I have no idea but the SW said that malicious accusations were very common.
Today I received a letter stating that said neighbour has been made a Governor at dd's school and I am very uncomfortable, I have avoided her as much as possible since the accusations and certainly have made sure that she does not so much as glimpse my kids without me there.
I feel I have to object to her appointment, can anyone help with the wording on the letter and who it should be sent to?
Thank you

Why did she make that accusation?

On what basis do you object? How do you know it was malicious or it was her that reported you? Maybe she thought she was doing the right thing.

Out of interest, how do you know it was this neighbour that reported you?

In any case, I'm not sure you can object to the appointment of a governor unless they have an undisclosed criminal past or you have some serious allegations to make eg child abuse. Even if you did make a complaint, the governor in question could state that they had legitimate worries. How could you prove otherwise?

If you are worried about it, you could ask to speak to the head in confidence. In reality, governors don't generally get involved in the day to day running of the school so it is unlikely this person would have any effect on you.

I don't think there is anything you can do tbh. She will not have any influence but I can understand that you feel uncomfortable. If you were to complain, I suppose you can say she made a malicious allegation, but you won't be able to prove it and she will just say she had legitimate concerns. I think the best option would be to just take a deep breath and try and forget about her. By the way I know how hard this will be as I have also been a victim of a malicious allegation and my blood still boils when I see the person responsible.

I can't see how you can object. She presumably has been voted in and passed all the criminal checks etc. I can't see how she can be removed. If you do complain, surely her defence will be that she had concerns about a child and reported them. That's going to be considered a good thing - someone prepared to speak up for the good of the child etc

I'm very sorry this is happening to you. You could try talking to the head and find out how much day to day involvement this governor will have? Many don't have very much and are very rarely in school, other than for meetings which are usually in the evenings.

If she did make malicious and untrue allegations then I think you are entitled to write to the local authority and express your concern that she is unsuitable to be a school governor.

How do you know who reported you ?

How could Op ever prove allegations were malicious Viviennemary?

I know because she told me.
There was an in depth investigation which completely exonerated me. If that doesn't prove malice (which it doesn't) it proves a massive lack of judgement - there is a big (and measurable) difference between a starving baby and a well-fed one. It is a small village school and the governors are encouraged to drop in as much as possible, and a glance at the log book tells me they do.
I think I will write to the head and copy in the chair of the governors, and at least explain the situation.

The first thing you need to do is find out exactly what kind of governor they have been appointed as. If they were elected as a parent governor then there is nothing that you can do to stop them being a parent governor because they have been elected by the parent body. Only in certain circumstances like being bankrupt or safeguarding issues would the appointment be cancelled.
If they were appointed as either a community governor or a Local Authority governor then that is an appointment by the governing body and / or Local Authority. I would have to say that for somebody to be forced to resign from the offered post there would have to be much more evidence than you appear to have that they had done something very wrong. In fact the reality of the situation is that if a member of school staff thought that you were mistreating your child they would also have to by law report that to social services.
My suggestion would be that you should not try to stop her from being a governor, as you are highly unlikely to succeed in the short term. However if you feel very strongly about this and maybe feel that this reporting may be repeated then I would ask to see the head teacher. I would explain that you are uncomfortable with them being a governor at the school because of what happened and the still strained relationship and that you would like the school to be aware of this. You have in effect pre-warned the school if for whatever reason something else happens but soapbox queen is right that as a governor they will not have any great involvement in the day to day running of the school.
I do have to say that my inclination is to just ignore her.

I know it would be difficult to prove. But if this person is a genuine busybody reporting people to SS for no good reason she shouldn't be a school governor. IMHO. For all the OP knows she could have reported quite a number of other people without grounds. I think it is a matter for concern.

I don't think you can complain about an appointment of someone to the governing body because they did something you didn't like 6 years ago.

I'm not sure complaining is the right term but you could notify the chair of governors and LEA with a factual account that this women has previously shown a lack of judgement and that you have concerns regarding her character to be in a position of access to information about pupils expressly in regards to your own child/ children.

Hmm. Well I would think it would be much more likely that you will be judged in this situation.
They're not going to go to her and say "Hey we've had a letter saying you did something 6 years ago, so you're not going to be a governor".

Either they will dismiss your letter as malicious. Or they will go to her and ask her about it. She will then say why she reported you, if she's that way inclined with embellishments. And it will leave a doubt in people's minds whether you should have been reported, even if found innocent by SS, there will be a "no smoke without fire" feel.

If she does start trying to report children at the school, then she should take it through the child wellfare officer, who should be able to consider it on their own merits. If she reports straight to social services I can't imagine the governors would be happy about that.

I would have a word with the Head. I don't think it would disqualify her from being a governor, but it may mean that she would be unsuitable for some roles.
It is the permanent school staff who would be involved in making referrals to SS of school age children, not the governors. If a referral is made in these circumstances, then the governors would be made aware this had happened, but no names or further details would be revealed. This would remain confidential.
There are usually governor guidelines which outline the need to keep information confidential, so if there is a risk that a governor may not deal with such information appropriately the school does need to be informed.

Did she say why she reported you? ie what made her think you were starving or otherwise neglecting your child? Did she have any particular reason to dislike you enough to make malicious allegations?

Talk to the head factually.

If she told you she reported you, did she tell you why? Maybe she genuinely was trying to protect your child and had got something very wrong.

If I were you, I would SPEAK to the Head about it. I think a letter will look too official. The Head doesn't even need to mention it to the governor, but it will be stored in the back of her mind, in case something similar comes up with this woman. I think the problem with a letter would be that it could come across as malicious and the person may need to be informed in which case, they may have the opportunity to justify themselves (which won't make you look good).

Thank you for all your replies. I think that I will speak to the head, but I have written a letter which has helped clarify my thoughts. The woman reported on the basis that she saw dd for 10 minutes and thought that she looked peaky. Talking to people I have found out that very sad/disturbing things happened to the woman's own child, and this may be why she is over anxious. I still don't want her faulty judgement wandering around the school.

Tbh I think the fact that she had concerns and reported them
is a good thing in a governor.
The fact that she was prepared to tell you to your face would indicate that she did not have malicious intent.
So far all good (obviously not through your eyes, but through the school's)
|I totally sympathise with you though, it must have been totally horrible to be wrongly accused.

I think you would be entitled to tell the school you don't consent to your child having anything to do with this governor. I would however be concerned that this could involve a backlash on you, because if the governor is asked about this - as she should be - she is likely to say something to justify what she did and it will affect the way the school views you.

I'm a governor with responsibility for CP issues at our school. I work closely with the pastoral staff.
Even with my specific role I do not come in day to day contact with individual children and families
The governors role is strategic planning and policy making.

I wouldn't worry, unless your governing body is a shambles and you have governors overstepping their roles in other areas.
THis person will have gone through the recruiting process. If she is a problem serial reporter, this would have been flagged at that stage.

I know for you it is still raw and seems like yesterday, but something like this that happened six years ago, when she may have had genuine concerns (albeit unfounded), will barely register.

It's hard, being a member of the public.

If you see something that worries you, report it, and it turns out to be unfounded, you're a malicious busybody who should be hounded out of a public role six years later.

If you see something that worries you, don't report it, and it turns out to be well-founded, you're a lazy coward who walks on by past distress for the sake of a quiet life.

So you should only report things if you are absolutely, completely, utterly certain of your ground. Which is a standard that the police, the social services, doctors and the courts are not held to.

When people gather around and chorus that it's terrible that no-one intervened in a child abuse case where the signs were "obvious", there's a simple reason why: because if you do nothing, you won't have people complaining about you six years later if you happen to be wrong.

We were in a similar situation last year, whereby the NGHS (a GDST private school) head teacher reported us to the SS out of spite on the day we submitted our termination notice. The allegations against us were immediately dropped by the SS, as they were obviously unfounded and false. We contacted a solicitor and we were informed that since the allegations were made to a closed organisation (the SS) and not a public organisaton (eg twitter), no public harm was done and we would not be successful in a court case.

The law sucks at present, as anyone can make false allegations to the SS and get away with it.

I can't being to imagine how horrible it must have been for you and OP Sunflower but for all the reasons dugh sets out it's vital that people can report even minor concerns.