SACKED principal Brian Isaacs has been issued with a letter by the provincial Education Department, through his attorney, warning him that he faces possible legal action if he sets foot on South Peninsula High premises, the school he served for 38 years.
But Isaacs has hit back, saying he would visit SPHS when invited – and, for that matter, would visit any other school.
The letter from the director of legal services in the Western Cape premier’s department said Isaacs had no business in coming to the school. Any further visits could result in legal action being taken against him.
The letter to Isaacs comes just weeks after the department dismissed him via e-mail, ending his tenure as head of the school.
Isaacs, who had been suspended earlier in the year, faced several disciplinary hearings relating to charges of misconduct in the workplace, including insubordination and making false statements in the media.
The letter, sent to Isaacs’s attorney and the school’s acting principal, Zeid Baker, followed a visit by Isaacs in which he addressed pupils and staff at the school’s hall almost two weeks ago.
Addressed to Baker under the signature of Western Cape Education Department circuit manager, Granville Stander, it stated that “in summary, the position of the department, as conveyed in my meeting with you earlier today, Mr B (Brian) Isaacs is not to be allowed on to the school premises”.
“Should he refuse to leave the premises after being requested to do so, you must inform the district office immediately.”
Stander added: “You may arrange, as a once-off (after school hours), for him to remove any personal effects from his office and inform me beforehand of this.”
Baker wrote he would call a school governing body meeting on Monday night to discuss the contents of the letter.
Jessica Shelver, spokesperson for Education MEC Debbie Schäfer, confirmed that the Education Department’s legal representative had “communicated the department’s position to his (Isaacs’s) attorney”.
Shelver said “the department will consider its options should Mr Isaacs continue to interfere with activities of the school”.
Asked whether the department would employ a permanent principal following Isaacs’s dismissal, Shelver said: “The department will follow normal procedures to appoint a principal.”
In a letter to the Cape Times, Isaacs hit out at the department, insisting he is “free to visit the school or any other school”.
He said he had received permission from Baker to address the school.
Isaacs said he planned to take the matter to the Education Labour Relations Council, was busy consulting his lawyer and would consult the public protector and the national Education Department.
“The WCED is being vindictive and is trying to intimidate me and the SPHS community,” Isaacs wrote.