Mom accuses school of victimisation

A Bonteheuwel mother of three who was arrested for allegedly trespassing on the premises of Bergsig Primary School has accused the school of victimising her and her children.

Faldiela Dinnie's children attend the school, and she has been a member of the school governing body since 2021 until February this year. She claims the school is gunning for her after she “asked too many questions” about its finances.

She said that during her time on the governing body she had questioned some of the school's financial practices, among them, she alleged, the use of duplicate receipt books, a failure to issue receipts for donations, the use of some receipts with the school name and date on them and some without; and balance sheet print-outs issued to parents that reflected lower amounts than those brought in by fund-raisers.

She claimed there was always an excuse as to why the school governing body could not get a look at the school's financial records.

Ms Dinnie claimed five police vehicles had arrived at her home at about 9am on Saturday November 30 and she had been arrested, although at the time it wasn’t made clear to her what the charge was, she said.

She said the officers had then driven her around Bishop Lavis, arresting "gangsters" on the way to Bishop Lavis police station where she had been told that she would be locked up until the Monday. 

When a new shift of officers had come on duty, she had been told that the principal had opened a case of trespassing against her relating to an incident in 2022 and that the police were now only dealing with that case as a result of a backlog, she said. 

On the Monday, she had waited all day in court before learning from a court official that the case had been thrown out due to lack of evidence.

Ms Dinnie said her children had received diplomas across subjects every year since they’d been at the school, but in their first term report this year, they had received low marks for Afrikaans, and upon questioning the school about it, new reports had been issued with an improved mark, but the report cards had no signature or school stamp.

She claimed that there was no transparency at the school and nothing was being done about it despite various complaints to the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) over the years.

In response, WCED spokesperson Millicent Merton said that “the school strongly denies any allegations of victimisation". 

She said that staff had been visibly upset after the parent had allegedly been disruptive at the school on an occasion in 2022, but the school was unaware that a case was registered because with the assistance of senior district officials, differences between the parent and staff at the school had been resolved. The arrest had come "as a surprise" to the school," Ms Merton said. 

"With reference to the parent’s complaint about her children’s marks in Afrikaans - a system error caused the wrong marks to be captured on a number of learners’ report cards. The error was corrected and the teacher gave the parent the adjusted results when she requested it. According to the teacher, the parent was in a hurry and he was not given an opportunity to affix the school stamp and have the report card signed.

“With reference to the school’s finances - any shortcomings in this area have been dealt with by the district office at the time and the school has the required processes in place to ensure sound management,” she said.

The Athlone News contacted the school for comment, but we were told that the principal was in a meeting and she would return our calls, but she did not do so by deadline.