Principal found guilty of assaulting pupil

Cape Town 150729. South Peninsula high school principal Brian Isaacs leave Wynberg court where Brian is on triall for a noise nuisance bylaw transgression. Picture Cindy waxa.Reporter Natasha P

Cape Town 150729. South Peninsula high school principal Brian Isaacs leave Wynberg court where Brian is on triall for a noise nuisance bylaw transgression. Picture Cindy waxa.Reporter Natasha P

Published Feb 9, 2016

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Cape Town - South Peninsula High School principal Brian Isaacs has been found guilty of four charges – including assault of a pupil – after a Western Cape Education Department hearing into his conduct at school.

Isaacs says he will oppose the outcome of the internal hearing against him.

Last year, the Department of Education brought six charges against him, but Isaacs has maintained his innocence and said the charges were trumped up.

Last week, Isaacs was informed that he had been found guilty of four of the six charges – assaulting a pupil “by hitting him against the back or shoulder blade”, conducting himself “in an improper, disgraceful and unacceptable manner” towards two pupils by uttering “more or less” the following words: “You are all scum”.

He was also found guilty of intimidating or victimising two pupils by refusing to let them go to class on several days and that he failed to carry out a lawful order or routine instruction without just or reasonable cause by not following an instruction from an official to ensure the two pupils returned to school.

The presiding officer in the case has not yet announced a sanction against him.

Millicent Merton, a spokeswoman for the department, said the parties still had to present evidence in mitigation and aggravation of the sanction to the presiding officer.

Isaacs said his legal representative had been informed via e-mail that he had been found guilty, but said no reasons were provided.

“I don’t know how we can prepare a response when no reasons for the findings have been provided.”

Isaacs said this should have been delivered five days after the hearing concluded.

“It was procedurally incorrect but the department is not accountable to anyone. They take the side of ill-disciplined students and cause ill-discipline in schools.”

He repeated an earlier statement that the department was on a witch-hunt against him because his school had opposed many of its policies over the years.

“Also, the magistrate’s court withdrew charges against me for the same assault case but the department’s hearing finds me guilty.”

Isaacs said he wouldn’t be surprised if the sanction against him was dismissal or a suspension.

Merton said there was no prescribed time frame for the handing down of a finding or “verdict”.

“The five days refers to only the final outcome and the matter is still pending.”

The department disagreed with Isaacs’s statement that procedure wasn’t followed and that it was not accountable to anyone.

It has also denied that there was a witch-hunt against him.

At the end of last year the department also brought misconduct charges against Isaacs, two of which related to letters published in the Cape Argus in which he criticised the department.

This matter hasn’t been concluded.

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