Another attack on a whistleblower

The vehicle of Carenne Special School whistleblower, Jenny O'Neill has been attacked. Violence against Carenne whistleblowers is nothing new with Brian Carter's car being attacked and the attempted carjacking of Mr Carter by Carenne Support director Geoff Salmon.

Threats against whistleblowers have also been made by Michael Auld, Lee Churches, Christine Porter, Simone Russell, Jeremy Russell, Geoff Salmon and Paul Knight.

The attack on Mrs O'Neill's vehicle shows how desperate those at Carenne are getting and the low tactics they will use to silence anyone who speaks out.

Melinda Gavin encouraging students to have sex

At the maligned Carenne Special School in Bathurst it appears that there are issues every day. Today, a parent has contacted Carenne Gate concerned about Melinda Gavin encouraging students in her and Michael Auld's class to have sex.

The parent claims that her son came home from school very upset today because he felt as though Melinda Gavin was pressuring him to have sex with a female student in the class. The student told his mother that Melinda Gavin had been trying to get him with the female student and that it had made him feel uncomfortable. The student had reported it to principal Neil Moon who told the student he didn't believe that Melinda Gavin would be trying to encourage the two students to get together.

The incident shows the abhorrent behaviour of certain staff at the school.

Student assaulted as he gets off bus: Parent

A Carenne Special School parent has contacted Carenne Gate this morning after observing the blatant assault of a student while getting off Dave Graham's bus this morning.

The parent, who is afraid to be named after hearing about retribution against other students who's parents have been identified on this blog claims that she saw a student being slapped across the face by a short blonde woman when he refused to get off the bus. The parent alleges that the student would not let go of the rail on the bus when it arrived at the school and was slapped with an open hand by the Carenne employee.

"I immediately rang the DOCS helpline and they said they couldn't do anything about it because it was a school and that I would need to contact the principal," said the parent.

The parent said she did not know who the person who assaulted the student was.

EPAC, Police fail to take action against "Omerta" despite using DET computer

Both the education department's EPAC, which investigates allegations against staff and the NSW Police have failed to take any sort of action against "Omerta", who has posted personal information on this blog and taken credit for a series of attacks on it last year.

In the past, Omerta's IP address has been provided to authorities who have neglected to take action, preferring instead to try to identify Carenne Gate's sources and posters rather than the KLAN.

The Carenne KLAN has revealed sensitive personal information about a number of people on this blog, all of which has been ignored by authorities. This is in spite of it being obvious that leaks have come from senior levels of Carenne and from within NSW Police.

Both the education department and Police have claimed that they are unable to trace contributions to this blog, despite a number of them being made from inside the department.

Tonight, "Omerta" has published personal information about a Carenne parent on this blog from inside the education department. Carenne Gate's logs reveal that Omerta posted from the IP address 153.107.33.154, registered as belonging to the Department of Education and Training.

Another anonymous poster on the blog alleges that they observed Michael Auld being at Carenne at 7:30PM, around the time of the "Omerta" postings.

Parents forced to pay $100 per year for RDA

A number of concerned parents have contacted Carenne Gate after being given a note telling them that they are required to pay $100 per year for their child to attend the riding for the disabled program at Carenne Special School this year.

Parents asked Carenne Gate if the school was still being forced by RDA to pay $80 per student per term in addition to the $100 per annum fee being imposed on parents. In the past, parents paid nothing for their children to attend the program, although a $15 per term fee was imposed on students who only attended the therapy farm after the Snowden review found that the school should not be funding RDA projects.

Following an investigation by Carenne Gate which found that other RDA centres charged participants anywhere from nothing to $35 per year, RDA President Nola Ramsay was contacted who refused to provide any explanation about why Bathurst charged almost three times more than any other RDA in NSW.

Issues at RDA in Bathurst have been a regular occurrence ever since Michael Auld became a member of its committee in 2007 according to a number of Carenne staff. RDA has been involved in a number of questionable activities including the payment of former President Mike Biddle for his son's services, parents being used to clean the premises, siphoning of Trade Training Centre funding to RDA, the program being overly dependent on Melinda Gavin, the failure of the committee to have proper insurance and ripping Carenne Special School off.

EPAC passes the buck on complaints

The Department of Education and Training's Employee Performance and Conduct Directorate (EPAC) which investigates allegations against employees has once again passed the buck on a complaint about Simone Russell, who posts on this blog as "hatho".

Carenne Gate is well aware of the identity of "hatho", through both her emails to our bloggers and her postings on this blog. Several of her friends have provided Carenne Gate with the IP address embedded in emails from her sjrussell42@bigpond.com address.

Malcolm Barnett, an investigator at EPAC was contacted about vulgar and racist remarks made by Simone Russell on Sunday as well as her refusal to work with a woman of African heritage due to the colour of her skin but instead claimed that Russell was not "clearly identifiable" and that racist conduct should be reported to Neil Moon or Peter Harvey.

This is despite racism being prohibited by both anti-discrimination laws in NSW and the department's code of conduct. Breaches of the code of conduct should be investigated by EPAC.

Carenne P&C at risk of collapse

Parents have been warned by Neil Moon that fundraising at Carenne Special School could be at risk with the Carenne P&C at risk of being wound up. According to a plea sent to parents by Neil Moon, the P&C requires a president, treasurer and secretary for the next year.

Mr Moon has called on parents, carers and grandparents to pay the $2 membership fee and attend the next meeting or the P&C might be forced to wind up, with any funds it presently has being forfeited.

Carenne Gate has learned that Janelle Kemp (president), Simone Russell (secretary) and the treasurer have stood down from the committee. Carenne Gate has called for the resignation of Janelle Kemp following her claims that it was parents supplying information to this blog.

Neil Moon has pleaded with parents to pay the $2 membership fee and to attend the annual general meeting or the P&C risked having to be closed.

According to former Carenne employee, carennetruth, the P&C had been operating against its rules. Carennetruth alleges that most meetings did not have the people required to meet the quorum and any decisions made are illegal.

It is not the first time that Simone Russell has been implicated in poor management, with her time as Carenne's School Administration Manager marred by incompetence. She failed to properly manage the school budget, used funds allocated for one thing for something else and wrote cheques for an account which didn't exist. According to Mother Goose, former Carenne principal warned Simone about her questionable practices. "Lyn told her that she had been illegally writing cheques and even joked that they could both end up in jail and that Lyn wanted the top bunk!" said Mother Goose.

While it is no loss that Janelle Kemp and Simone Russell are leaving the P&C it is of concern that the school could be without a P&C association. It shows the complete lack of support Carenne has amongst the community following years of maladministration, corruption and child abuse.

Steve Minshull caught smoking in the bus

One of the corrupt Capebase bus drivers, Steve Minshull who has come under fire on this blog for his driving and management of students has been observed smoking a cigarette in a bus used to transport students to and from the Carenne Special School.

A parent observed Mr Minshull driving his bus on the Great Western Highway towards Kelso while smoking a cigarette. "There were no kids in the bus at the time but how do we know if he does or doesn't do it with kids in there?" asked the parent.

"Even if there aren't kids in there while he is smoking it still gets into everything and this bus has asthmatic kids on it, what happens if it triggers an asthma attack?"

DET Snitch told Carenne Gate that it was against department policy to smoke in any DET vehicle or those used to transport students. "We disallow it for the very reason that the smoke can linger as can the smell from it," said DET Snitch.

It once again shows that Mr Minshull cares nothing for the health and wellbeing of students in his care and that he is an unsuitable person to be driving a vehicle used under the Special Needs Transport Service.

Dick Spears allows unapproved adult on his bus

One of the bus operators and drivers at Carenne Special School identified on this blog as being corrupt and making special arrangements for Carenne Support director Geoff Salmon has been reported as breaching departmental guidelines by allowing an unapproved person to travel in his bus.

A parent with a child on Mr Spears' bus raised the alarm after observing the adult traveling in the front of the bus on Friday. Inquiries by Carenne Gate revealed that Mr Spears had in fact had an unapproved adult in the vehicle while children were on board.

According to DET Snitch, DET regulations require that transport operators only transport persons approved by the department. "These include students and travel support but nobody else," said the whistleblower.

It appears as though Mr Spears has once again broken departmental guidelines which he obviously has no regard for.

Carenne Support forces parent to pick up student

The corrupt organisation at the core of the Carenne Gate Affair, Carenne Support Limited has made a parent drive 120 Km return in order to pick up her son after driver Dave Graham said he wouldn't transport the student if he was the same in the afternoon.

After spending most of the day locked in Ros Luther's storeroom known as the "torture room", the student was highly agitated by the afternoon so Mrs Luther called his parents and demanded that they take him home because the bus driver refused to transport him.

Parents have a right to know how many students are being locked in this torture room and for how long. It is despicable for Carenne to terrorise a student in this way and then claim it is too hard to deal with the student and demand that his parents pick him up instead of being transported by the organisation paid to do it.

Unofficial Carenne Support spokeswoman received transport she wasn't entitled to

A Carenne Special School whistleblower has reported that the woman who appears to have become the unofficial blog spokeswoman for Carenne Support, Mary Housler received transport under the Special Needs Transport Service which she wasn't entitled to.

The whistleblower alleges that Mrs Housler's son was transported to and from the school by a taxi under the SNTS, despite her being able to do it herself. According to DET, the SNTS is available to students who have parents who are unable to take the child to school themselves.

"Mary was going to university next to the school yet she couldn't bring him herself, she is another Janelle Kemp, just sponging off the public purse,"

said the whistleblower.

The whistleblower claims that Jock Roxborough would have made the recommendation for Mrs Housler's son to receive transport under the SNTS by lying to the department. "He would have said that she couldn't take the child herself," the whistleblower said.

Even after Mrs Housler became an employee of Carenne Support, which runs buses under the SNTS, her son continued to receive transport from the department.

With continued fraud among operators, unapproved arrangements with parents and operators and the transport of students who are ineligible for the service because of lies by school principals the SNTS needs a radical overhaul.

Carenne Support director continues to get special treatment under the SNTS

Geoff Salmon, a director of the corrupt organisation Carenne Support who took matters into his own hands when he attacked a whistleblower has once again been given special treatment under the Special Needs Transport Service under which Carenne Support receives most of its income.

It has been reported to Carenne Gate that the arrangement between Mr Salmon and the driver of his son's bus Dick Spears has been restarted after ceasing as a result of its exposure on this blog last year.

In the past, Mr Spears was defrauding the department by claiming he was taking Mr Salmon's son to and from his home near Oberon every day despite on most days taking him to Kelso. It reportedly led to overclaims of around 50 kilometres a day.

Mr Spears has today used his wife as a driver on a second bus to transport Mr Salmon's son too and from Kelso so he can complete his run in a shorter amount of time. Carenne staff have also raised concerns about how Mr Spears uses an old bus which is not roadworthy on these days.

Neil Moon misleads the Bathurst Community on radio, gaffes

Incompetent principal of the infamous and much maligned Carenne Special School, Neil Moon has once again used his weekly interview on local radio station 2BS to spin and attempt to mislead the Bathurst community.

A very nervous Neil Moon told listeners that the fundraiser on Saturday night was well attended and showed the real support that the school had amongst the community. Mr Moon had difficulty with the word community, saying it had strong "secur-security-community" support.

Mr Moon neglected to tell the community that it had 80 people at the Carenne Support Dinner Dance last year and less than 40 at the charity auction and raffles on Saturday night. This shows that the amount of support Carenne has amongst the community has plummeted.

Mr Moon said that they were still counting the money the school had received from raffles and the charity auction at the Waratah but he knew it was a significant amount. This is despite local media reporting the takings as being $5,000 (on 2BS yesterday) and $4,000 in the Western Advocate.

Carenne whistleblower savecarenne told Carenne Gate that the school has no hope while it is under the leadership of Neil Moon. "He is nothing but a pathological liar, you can't believe a word that comes out of his mouth, worse still you tell him something and he tells the world."

Nedkelly was equally as scathing - "I said that the f---wit would lie on the radio, he can't lie straight in bed, he is a liar, he is incompetent and he is a bully."

Photo credit: Western Advocate, used under fair use guidelines

Carenne Special School fundraiser to benefit corrupt charity - Carenne Support

The corrupt organisation at the centre of the Carenne Gate saga, Carenne Support Limited will benefit from Saturday night's Carenne Special School fundraiser at the Waratah in Bathurst according to whistleblowers and today's report in the Western Advocate. It is not the first time that Carenne Support has engaged in dishonest fundraising practices, with two Ford Transit minibuses being purchased for it after fundraising in the school's name.

The Western Advocate article claims that the school will be using the funds from the event to purchase much needed therapy equipment and a sensory wall for the junior courtyard. According to Carenne Support after last August's dinner dance where a sex toy made a surprise appearance, Carenne Support had raised enough money to build a sensory wall at the school.

According to Carenne whistleblower Gretel, Carenne Support was the beneficiary from the Waratah fundraiser. She told Carenne Gate - "The fundraiser was to purchase new therapy equipment for some students and for the sensory wall that will all be owned by Carenne Support, it was a Carenne Support fundraiser using the school's name."

Nedkelly told Carenne Gate that it was Neil Moon and Paul Knight's idea to use the school's name to fundraise for the corrupt charity. "Neil and Paul said that the school's name would raise more funds than Carenne Support's, he said that the funds could then be used on therapy programs and products for a few students."

The event demonstrates that the public is still being misled by Carenne Support and Carenne Special School when it comes to fundraising events.

Carenne fundraiser shows community support has dropped: nedkelly

Carenne Special School klansmen turned whistleblower, nedkelly has contacted Carenne Gate with a report on the school fundraiser held at the Waratah last night.

According to nedkelly, the turnout was the lowest she has ever seen at a school fundraiser, claiming there were less people in attendance than were at the Carenne Support fundraiser (where staff took a sex toy) last year.

nedkelly told Carenne Gate-

"You can really see that the support Carenne once had is gone, there were hardly any people there last night, far less than the RSL club, less than the Zoe Gavin benefit and far far less than at the bus dinner dance. Carenne is on the f------ nose."

nedkelly said she believed that corrupt principal, Neil Moon would lie to the community and make it sound as though the target was exceeded and that the venue was full. "That isn't the case, there would have been 30 or 40 people there at the most. That is probably being generous, the whole night was a joke," said nedkelly.

nedkelly said that the night was fairly uneventful, although she is concerned about the excess alcohol consumption of some of her colleagues. nedkelly alleges that two-thirds of the staff that attended were extremely drunk and made allegations that one of them drove home in that state, despite nedkelly trying to convince them otherwise and calling the police on them.

nedkelly was also concerned about most of the items at the fundraiser being alcohol. "You can tell that two-thirds of Carenne staff are alcoholics, most of the auction items or prizes were alcoholic."

"It's time that another review takes place at Carenne, this time looking at the social problems among the staff and the fact that most of them have a f------ alcohol problem."

Corrupt and incompetent driver returns

Steven Minshull, the Capebase driver with a history of defrauding the Special Needs Transport Service for the benefit of his employer and who has been observed by Carenne Special School staff driving in an erratic manner has returned to Capebase as a bus driver into Carenne.

It was alleged that former School Administration Manager, Simone Russell and Mr Minshull had conspired to make fraudulent payment claims to the Department of Education and Training following Mr Minshull's move to Bathurst.

Mr Minshull has taken over the Blayney bus run, formerly driven by Craig Graham, who was also publicly named and shamed on this blog for being corrupt.

"This guy is so hopeless that when he transported a student from Lithgow he had to restrain them. The student was travelling with Kym beforehand and there was no problem and now he is doing a post-school program there is no problem. The guy is incompetent," said the whistleblower.

Nedkelly told Carenne Gate that the department was aware of a number of issues with this particular driver. "I know that Terry Mahony had a student put on another bus because Steve assaulted him in the corridor of the school, this was observed by a number of staff" she said.

It would appear that Mr Minshull had serious difficulties in driving a bus with a few students on it yet seems to be suitable to drive a bus with many more on it.