Former principal awarded $5000

Salford School in Invercargill has been ordered to pay former principal Marlene Campbell $5000 after the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) found she was unjustifiably suspended.

But in a decision shared with the school community on Thursday, ERA member Mike Loftus found Ms Campbell had not been unjustifiably dismissed and had not been poorly treated by the two people appointed by the Ministry of Education to run the school.

He declined her application for reinstatement.

Ms Campbell was dismissed in March by lawyer Nicola Hornsey, who has been running the school as commissioner for almost a year.

After her dismissal, Ms Campbell took a personal grievance and a six-day hearing was held in Invercargill in June.

The full decision has not been released by the ERA yet, but Ms Hornsey said on Friday she had sent a ''cautious'' letter to parents on Thursday precising the decision and had discussed the full decision with staff.

She said she had been cautious in the letter to parents because Ms Campbell had the right to appeal the decision within 28 days.

''We are still in a due process. As a school, it is good to have the decision, but we are aware it is challengeable.''

Problems at Salford date back more than two years to a negative Education Review Office report which said past and present staff members and some parents had expressed serious concerns about aspects of Ms Campbell's leadership.

The report noted ''high levels of staff turnover and dissatisfaction'' which were ''putting schoolwide developments and ongoing improvement at risk''.

Peter Macdonald was appointed limited statutory manager in November 2012, and it was he who suspended Ms Campbell a year later.

Ms Campbell could not be reached for comment yesterday.

allison.beckham@odt.co.nz

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