A London primary headteacher has been suspended following an investigation into her school’s finances.
Jean Gordon Reynolds, who has left Park Lane primary in Wembley on full pay, along with caretaker Melvin Thorpe, is the fourth headteacher in Brent to be suspended over financial irregularities.
The school is the latest to be investigated by Brent council’s audit and investigation team. A spokeswoman said the school’s chair of governors had decided to suspend Ms Gordon Reynolds and Mr Thorpe.
She added: “This is a neutral act and should not be seen as a pre-judgment of the issues by the governing body. Nor does it imply any guilt or wilful misconduct on the part of the suspended employees.”
John Redpath, head of nearby Preston Park Primary, is now acting head of the school.
The suspensions come as detectives charged six former members of staff and governors at Copland Community School in Wembley with fraud, following a whistleblower’s claims that staff had been paid thousands of pounds in bonuses.
The six, including former headteacher Sir Alan Davies, who was knighted for services to education, will appear at Westminster magistrates’ court next week. The investigations at the schools are not related. Two other primary schools in the area have also been hit by allegations of financial irregularities.
In January last year, Brent council took control of the budget at Furness Primary School in Harlesden and sacked Alan King as head after allegations of “serious mismanagement”. This January, Joyce Page was suspended from her post as head of Kensal Rise Primary School.
Hank Roberts, the whistleblower who complained about Copland, praised Brent council. He said: “The Government must take much stronger action to make sure taxpayers’ money is not being wasted. People in Brent should be reassured that the council is taking the issue seriously. It is not a bizarre blip that these schools are all in Brent, it is just that the council has been looking more closely than others.”
