Wick High parent council rocked by resignations
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Professor Iain Baikie claims Wick High is a school in crisis.
FOURTEEN members of the Wick High parent council have resigned amid claims that the school is facing a crisis.
They are said to be unhappy that their concerns are not being taken into consideration by senior management.
The crisis arose at a meeting on Tuesday night (May 24), leaving the parent council with only four members, according to Professor Iain Baikie.
Prof Baikie, who had been chairman of the parent council since it was formed in 2007, said he felt his position had become “intolerable” and that he could no longer work with senior management at the school.
He said that 10 other members and three co-opted members have also resigned with immediate effect or will step down at the council’s next AGM.
Prof Baikie said: “I personally feel that Wick High is a school in crisis.
“It was reported in the minutes back in March that the school has a deficit of over £200,000.
Eight staff members are leaving in the summer and only 10 per cent of S5 male students and 32 per cent of S5 female students are achieving three or more Highers.
“This is at a time when higher education institutes are typically looking for four Highers.”
He continued: “I challenged the rector [Thomas McIntyre] on how we would be able to deliver a quality curriculum under these circumstances. In my opinion he did not offer us an adequate response.
“I am very concerned about the quality of education my children will be receiving there unless solutions are found.”
Prof Baikie added: “I found my position intolerable with the feedback that I received from senior management. I think that other members share a common ground with what I felt and decided they did not want to stay on either.”
He said that a number of those who resigned this week had been with the parent council since it was formed and had been passionate about helping provide a quality school for the community.
Saying that the decision was made reluctantly, he feels they were left with little option.
“We are all extremely sad and disappointed that it has come to this,” he said. “The parent council has been a terrific body for Wick which battled hard to get a new school building. The board members had been at the posts for a long time and did not take the move to step down easily.
“However, the parent council is a legal entity and when we have questions they have to be answered.
“When questions are not being answered, it shows that school management are not seeing us for the entity that we are.”
Wick High School rector Mr McIntyre would not comment on the resignations of the committee members.
He said, however, that the school has a very positive future.
“Since I was appointed rector at Wick High School, I have been able to half the school’s budget’s deficit to £93,874,” he explained. “The Highland Council has highly commended the efforts of the senior management team to achieve this.
“I believe that the outlook for the school is very positive and it stands in a very strong position. The actions which have been put in place will help deliver that.” He added: “I am looking forward to working with the acting chairperson and members of the parent council to help achieve this.”
Indicating his support for the management team, education, culture and sports committee chairman Bill Fernie said that Mr McIntyre is doing an effective job in guiding Wick High to a healthy future.
“I have been led to believe that only eight people have stepped down from the parent council of which five were co-opted members,” said the Wick councillor yesterday. “The headmaster has put forward a perfectly satisfactory budget plan which will take the school out of the red category. Thanks to his hard work, the budget situation at the school is better and improving.
“The school will also be losing five teaching staff and three probation staff at the end of the year. But this is a familiar sight across the Highlands as schools are operating on reduced budgets.”
