Leis shafted by KLAN

Coleen Leis has been the latest victim of the Carenne Special School KLAN, following a finding by EPAC that she engaged in misconduct. As a result of the finding, Mrs Leis has been forcibly transferred to Denison College - Kelso High Campus.

The investigation, carried out by Malcolm Barnett was initiated after a complaint by Angie Cranston, an aide at the school known for her constant bullying and the making of complaints to serve her own interest.

In Term 3, Cranston made a complaint to Barnett who was relieving as manager of EPAC's serious misconduct team alleging that Leis had leaked information about the school, was incompetent, had bullied her and was abusive towards her and other staff. Cranston's complaint came after an incident where Leis observed Cranston dragging a student by his hair along a corridor.

Leis intervened and took the student to Neil Moon's office to report the incident, only to see nothing happen and face departmental charges herself. Cranston's claims were backed up by statements from Neil Moon, Margaret Rowe, Michael Auld and Melinda Gavin.

Leis was informed of the investigation result in November and told that she either had to accept a transfer to Kelso High or resign.

Carenne Gate can reveal that the investigation, carried out under the guidance of Malcolm Barnett was not carried out properly and failed to consider Cranston's short but checkered history at Carenne. Staff at Bathurst SEA informed EPAC that Cranston had been the subject of a number of workers compensation claims and OH&S reports due to her relentless threats, intimidation and harassment.

EPAC was aware that Cranston was part of the reason Barbara Woolfe retired, when Cranston told staff she would expose Woolfe for not reporting therapy not being done on a student which ADHC had paid for, despite also being the aide in the class. They were also aware of Cranston being the cause of a nervous breakdown suffered by Kelly Thompson, a promising special educator who had to be relocated to Bathurst West Public and the refusal of all staff except Terry Neal to work with her last year.

In just four years at Carenne, Cranston has been the subject of many complaints and has been reported on this blog for:

• Making students walk back to the school unsupervised after a teacher fell down a drain,
• Being involved in corrupt excursion arrangements
• Taking a sexual device to a school fundraiser
• Stealing items from the school
• Inappropriately touching a student, and
  
• Not properly supervising students.

Despite objections by Neil Moon, officials at SEA have called for Angie Cranston to be sacked only to be told by EPAC it is not possible. It is apparent that EPAC are relying on unreliable information from a woman with a particular agenda to push.

Another Carenne Support director and questionable business practices

Carenne Gate can reveal that Carenne Support director and bank employee Paul Knight has been engaging in questionable business practices on Internet auction site eBay. On the site, Knight uses the name slater2703.

Back in July, Knight posted the name of a buyer as feedback, calling them a "wanker". After being mentioned on this blog, Knight has set his feedback profile to private so it is no longer available to be read by other users. This shows that Knight has something to hide.

Knight isn't the only Carenne Support director caught out engaging in questionable business practices, with Geoff Salmon's company wound up for being in excess of $6.1 million in debt.

Carenne music teacher/bus driver impersonates Lee Churches

Carenne Special School's music teacher and a bus driver for Capebase, one of Carenne Support's competitors, Steve Minshull has attempted to impersonate disgraced former Carenne assistant principal and Carenne Support director Lee Churches.

Earlier today Minshull posted under the name "Lee Churches" claiming that court documents posted by Mary Housler were not the original copies and that they would ask Carenne Support's board of directors to investigate. He then posted that the allegations were true but were not part of the court case.

Mr Minshull's postings show the cut-throat competition amongst bus drivers and operators at Carenne and how they will do anything to discredit each other.

Robyn Graham abuses student

Despite being under close scrutiny, staff associated with Carenne Special School in Bathurst continue to act inappropriately, unprofessionally and worst of all - continue to abuse children. Carenne Gate has learned of an incident involving Robyn Graham, wife of Dave Graham and escort on Carenne Support's Lithgow run at the end of November.

Without approval from the Special Transport Unit, and while claiming for running two buses, at the end of November Dave Graham combined the Lithgow and Kelso runs and performed it himself, with his wife as escort.

During the run, Robyn Graham hit an indigenous student across the face and forcefully held him to the seat while using racial slurs to refer to the student. When the student became agitated, Mrs Graham threatened to sit on him to ensure he remained seated. The student's parent noticed bruises on his arm that afternoon and asked Mrs Graham what had happened. She told the parent that he wouldn't remain in his seat so she restrained him.

One of the students on the bus then began to tell the parent what had happened and spoke of the language used by Mrs Graham towards the student.

The incident was reported to Bathurst Police, who advised that the school would need to look into the matter. A complaint was made to Neil Moon, who promised to look into the incident but as usual with child protection complaints at Carenne nothing appears to have been done. It appears to be Mr Moon's practice to drag these matters on so the evidence is destroyed or the complainant goes away. In this case, the parent took photographs of the bruises on their child's body as evidence of the attack.

Frighteningly, Mrs Graham remains as a SNTS escort on Carenne Support's Lithgow run.

According to Barracus and nedkelly, staff at Carenne were briefed about the incident by Neil Moon and told to say nothing if interviewed by Police or staff from EPAC.

It's time that the authorities get real and take action about the continued abuse being suffered by students at Carenne Special School.

UPDATE: Mary Housler and Carenne Support breach company law

Yesterday I reported that Carenne Support, the corrupt organisation at the centre of the Carenne Gate Affair hadn't lodged it's financial statements with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission in an attempt to hide its financial position from the general public.

In my article I wrote that it was optional for Carenne Support to lodge financial statements, but it was correctly pointed out by one of our readers that I was wrong.

I am not the only person who was wrong, with Mary Housler, company secretary of Carenne Support claiming:

"There is no requirement for us to send them to ASIC and have them placed on the public record for the likes of Brian and Nathan Carter to use against us in court and for them to be plastered all over this blog.

It's about time you c---s realise that you have no right to know anything about Carenne Support."

Due to its status as a deductibe gift recipient, Carenne Support is required under company law to lodge an annual report with ASIC no later than four months after the end of its financial year (or 30 October 2011). Failing to lodge on time is a criminal offence with a maximum penalty of six months jail or a $3,125 fine and both the company secretary and company itself can be charged.

Those wishing to report the matter should contact ASIC on 1300 300 630.

Carenne Support's latest transport breach

Carenne Support has once again been caught out breaching the rules of the Special Needs Transport Service while at the same time neglecting a student.

Today, the escort on Carenne Support's Kelso run was observed in the front seat of the vehicle while students requiring an escort were still on board the vehicle. One student in particular is known to run off and needs constant supervision. It is the escort's duty to ensure that this supervision is provided.

Under the rules of the SNTS, escorts are to be seated in the rear of the vehicle as close as possible to the student requiring assistance. They are never to be seated in the front of the vehicle. The driver should not have driven the vehicle without the escort in the correct position.

Carenne Support continues to break the rules without any penalty from the department.

Carenne Support fails to make financials transparent

The corrupt organisation at the centre of the Carenne Gate Affair, Carenne Support Limited has failed to lodge its annual financial reports with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission this year. It had until October 30 to do so.

Despite only being required to if requested by ASIC or 5% of its members, in the past, Carenne Support has lodged its financial reports with the regulatory body. To stop lodging its reports, Carenne Support looks as though it is trying to hide something and should not be trusted by the general public.

It has already been publicised that key people associated with the charity are unsuitable, with Christine Porter accused of defrauding ADHC and neglecting students, Geoff Salmon running his own company into massive debt and attempting to carjack a Carenne protester, Paul Knight defrauding people on eBay and Terry Mahony telling the Bathurst community that the two buses being purchased were for the school.

Any person considering making a donation to the organisation should be careful as it obviously has something to hide and is not being open and transparent in its operation.

The organisation is not the first charity associated with Carenne to change its practices to avoid scrutiny, with the Bathurst Riding for the Disabled Association changing its structure to avoid transparency.

It's time that the authorities look into the plethora of issues surrounding Carenne Support.

Parents, staff unimpressed with presentation day

Parents and staff at the maligned Carenne Special School have complained about the annual presentation day held at the Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre today. Complaints flooded into Carenne Gate about how the ceremony was ran, speeches, musical items and stickers given out at the door.

Attendees claimed that the day, organised by Neil Moon and Janelle Kemp was poorly planned and not to the standard of previous years. Instead of being a showcase of student's achievements, the presentation day ceremony was a chance for the school and its staff to spin and attempt to talk up a very troubled school. Attendees claimed the order of the ceremony, the reduction in the number of musical items and lack of time management showed the complete incompetence of Mr Moon and Ms Kemp with organising such a function.

Attendees were given a sticker saying "Friends of Carenne" made by the education department's disability programs officer Linda Cormack, which they were encouraged to put on their cars to show support for the school. Ms Cormack claimed that she thought of the stickers during a dream and went on to speak of her fondness for the school.

A number of parents were disgusted with the stickers, with one parent saying they were 'demeaning' - "What sort of idiot would make a sticker that looks like it was created by a pre-school child. It's pathetic and demeaning, most students at the school would be capable of making something far better but of course arrogant b****es like Linda Cormack wouldn't be able to see that, they think disabled kids are incapable."

Another parent told Carenne Gate that he thought the bumper stickers showed the desperation of the education department. "Obviously when you have to hand out a sticker to get from free advertisement you are in trouble," said the parent.

Attendees also attacked Neil Moon's 'principal's report', which ran for almost half an hour. Staff and parents complained about how his speech was long, boring, drawn out and full of spin. He spoke of what he considered to be the school's achievements this year, which staff criticised as an attempt to make himself look as though he was in control. Nedkelly told Carenne Gate that Mr Moon spoke about achievements that wouldn't normally be considered achievements because he had nothing else to speak about.

Moon's speech also mentioned how the school had valuable partnerships with corrupt organisations Carenne Support and the Riding for the Disabled Association and of partnerships he claims to have built with the community.

The musical piece by Carenne's guitar teacher, Steve Minshull was another segment which drew criticism from attendees, with many claiming it was 'atrocious' and 'appalling'. The students, despite being taught by Mr Minshull all year were unable to play the guitar with Mr Minshull stealing the limelight with his performance. One staff member complained that the choice of song - Under the Boardwalk was inappropriate for a function for a school where students from pre-school to Year 12 attended.

Another staff member claimed that the song was a poor choice as it was far too complicated for the students in the group to be able to play -

"For someone with years of experience as a music teacher you would think that he would be able to pick an appropriate song for the students to play. Instead, he chose something that was too complicated for them to be able to play and used it as an opportunity to make himself look good while making the students look bad. One parent commented to me about how the students looked out of their depth and how some in the audience made fun of them. You should celebrate what these students can do, not make them look bad."

Once again, staff at Carenne Special School forgot about the true purpose of the day and used it to further their own agenda.

Neil Moon's $16,000 lie

Once again corrupt Carenne Special School principal, Neil Moon has defrauded the Bathurst community by making claims that are not true. The Bathurst Bulldogs Rugby Club recently donated $16,000 to the school so that the school could continue its hydrotherapy program.

In a statement to the Western Advocate, Mr Moon said that the $16,000 would go towards funding an "ongoing hydrotherapy program" and possibly the purchase of iPads for students.

Mr Moon neglected to tell his donors that Carenne has had a hydrotherapy program for many years under an agreement with Bathurst Hospital which costs the school nothing. In the past, the department had planned a hydrotherapy pool for the school - the same as the Anson Street Special School in Orange, however Michael Auld and Terry Mahony's lobbying to have the Riding for the Disabled Association moved to the rear of the school ended these plans. It was realised that due to Auld and Mahony's incompetence that there was no room to build the facility, which could have benefited a greater number of students.

According to nedkelly, the school's purchase of iPads is only to secure Christine Porter's position at the school. "Christine claims that they have to be setup and monitored by a speech therapist, so the whole idea of the iPads is to make sure she still has a job even though ADHC are employing therapists independent to Carenne Support."

Neil Moon has once again shown he is not to be trusted and that he will lie and defraud the Bathurst community.

Sexist staffing practices at Carenne

It can be revealed that once again, Carenne Special School has bypassed proper merit selection procedures and appointed staff based on their gender and Carenne staff's own beliefs.

At the beginning of November, two School Learning Support Officer positions were filled through the ordinary interview process, with the positions going to Adam Ryan and Zach Baker. An aide who has been involved with the school for a number of years, Sue Sewell was passed over because the school needed male aides according to Neil Moon.

Moon's claim that Mrs Sewell was less suited to the job than Mr Ryan and Mr Baker because she is female is a case of blatant sexism. Staff outside of the KLAN believe Mr Ryan and Mr Baker to be immature and inexperienced. Carenne whistleblower Barracus told Carenne Gate that she believed Sewell to be a much better choice -

"Sue has worked at the school for a number of years and is a far more capable aide than Adam or Zach. Adam and Zach are immature, inexperienced and incapable of performing to the standard that Sue is."

nedkelly told Carenne Gate that the staffing decision was influenced by Ros Luther, Terry Neal, Angie Cranston and Nadine Dwyer, with the foursome telling staff that Ryan and Baker would get the job because they were just what the school needed and because they "fit into Carenne."

Once again Neil Moon demonstrates his lack of leadership and bias.