The head of education at a Scottish local authority who was suspended following a row over whether an 11-year-old girl should be allowed to go to the school of her choice has taken early retirement.
The head of education at a Scottish local authority who was suspended following a row over whether an 11-year-old girl should be allowed to go to the school of her choice has taken early retirement.
Ian Fraser, the corporate director of education and social care with Inverclyde Council, announced his decision yesterday, just over a week after disciplinary action was taken against him.
No details of Mr Fraser's severance deal were made public, although officials said no enhancements had been made to his pension entitlement and there had been no redundancy payments. When in office, Mr Fraser's annual salary was £100,000.
John Mundell, chief executive of Inverclyde Council, said: "Historically, we have had an excellent track record of high-performing education and social care services and Ian contributed to this over the last two-and-a-half years."
In a farewell e-mail to staff, Mr Fraser said: "I have worked with you since 2006 and treasured your company, admired your skills and marvelled at your effectiveness. I leave in the certainty that you have been really successful in what you do and I wish you every success in the future."
David Cameron, president of the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland, paid tribute to Mr Fraser's contribution to public service over many years, and in particular to raising achievement in schools in his most recent post. "Ian is a highly valued colleague who was an active member of ADES and we will all miss his contribution," Mr Cameron said.
The decision to suspend Mr Fraser split opinion in Inverclyde, with some decrying his "robust" style of management and others praising his work ethic and enthusiasm.
Mr Fraser's suspension centres on the case of Kirstin Airlie, the only one of a 101-strong intake to Gourock High who was refused entry, despite attending a primary in the catchment area.
Inverclyde's policy is to cap pupil numbers in S1 classes to a maximum of 20 and, the council argued, allowing 101 pupils into the first year would mean employing an extra teacher.
In order to decide which pupil was excluded, a ballot was held of all 101 applications, which resulted in Kirstin being told she had to go to Greenock Academy.
However, her parents successfully appealed the decision. An independent review of the circumstances surrounding the decisions regarding admissions to Gourock High was then put in place and Mr Fraser was suspended.
Mark Airlie, the father of the schoolgirl, said: "I don't have any animosity towards Ian Fraser himself, but we felt the education department acted in an aggressive way.
"What is most important to us is to get to the bottom of what happened with the ballot and whether or not it was engineered."
Last year, the council lost another high-profile placing request battle after a sheriff ruled against them, and there has also been controversy over the introduction of a 33-hour school week, different school holidays and plans to cut the role of attendance officers.
However, others pointed to the fact that many of the significant events and internal procedures central to the case involving Kirstin pre-dated his appointment in 2006.
In addition, despite dealing with significant issues of poverty and deprivation, Inverclyde schools have regularly outperformed similar schools in exam performance under Mr Fraser's leadership.
