Bathurst West neglected student with suspected meningococal disease

Carenne Special School is not the only school under Peter Harvey's supervision which is engulfed in claims of incompetence, corruption and child neglect. A parent has reported to Carenne Gate about how they observed a student showing signs of meningococal disease being neglected by the school's first aid officer Marilyn Austen and acting principal Kerrie Lloyd.

The parent reports that they overheard a conversation where Mrs Austen and Mrs Lloyd refused to call an ambulance, despite the student being in pain, with a rash on his chest and fever. Both Mrs Lloyd and Mrs Austen left the student who was in significant distress alone in the schools sick bay and ignored him, claiming that he was acting up.

The parent claims that she heard another teacher call the ambulance when Austen and Lloyd refused to do so only to be castigated for it.

In another serious breach of department policy, when the ambulance did arrive, an administrative and support staff member who was visiting from another school went in the ambulance with the student to supervise him. According to departmental guidelines, only teachers can be responsible for the supervision of students.

Tests at the hospital, where the student was admitted for two to three days, discovered that the student had a virus which mimicked the potentially fatal disease.

It is frightening to think that staff of another of Peter Harvey's schools seriously neglected a student who presented with signs of a disease that can kill without medical attention in a matter of hours. As with what happens at Carenne, the incident was covered up at the order of senior department officers, fearful that legal action could be taken against them and the school for seriously breaching their duty of care.

In the Bathurst district, it would appear that the wellbeing of students is of little concern and is one of the last considerations of department staff.