Neil Moon defrauds the public

In years to come when people look at the history of Carenne Special School in Bathurst, Neil Moon's principalship will be remembered as being one of cover-ups, lies, incompetence and stupidity. Neil Moon showed his tendancy for the last during his interview with Radio 2BS today.

During the interview, Mr Moon mentioned the upcoming Variety Club Bash and how the school owes them a debt of gratitude because Variety gave the school financial support  to purchase two buses. What Moon didn't realise is that his slip has quite significant ramifications for Carenne Support. Here you have yet another principal claiming that the funds raised for the Carenne bus appeal were actually raised for the school.

If Variety donated to the school (which is what the rest of the Bathurst community did, as they were led to believe the buses were for the school), why did the school give the money to Carenne Support? Why does Carenne Support own the buses and use them for business?

The issue raises very serious concerns about Terry Mahony, the school's principal at the time. Why did he allow the money to be siphoned to Carenne Support? Why did he lie to the community? 

It's time the Bathurst Detectives actually do their job and charge every director of Carenne Support at the time with fraud.

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.

Another scamming bus operator at Carenne

Carenne Gate can reveal that the bus operator who was falsely claiming for taking a Carenne Support director's son home to Oberon instead of to Kelso where he had been taken, Dick Spears has been performing another scam for the best part of 18 months.

Some 18 months ago, when another student was allocated to his Oberon district bus run, Mr Spears re-negotiated his contract with the Department of Education and Communities (then the Department of Education and Training) so he could purchase a larger vehicle. He told the then manager of Special Transport, Gail Vasic that he needed a larger vehicle and that his expenses (such as fuel) would go up because he had to use a different vehicle.

Despite claiming this to the department, Mr Spears uses his new vehicle only once or twice per week, using his old Ford Spectron van the rest of the time, despite being paid by the department to use his other vehicle.

Besides scamming the department, Mr Spears' Ford Spectron is unroadworthy and full of rust according to parents. One parent told Carenne Gate "I have concerns about him using that old bus of his, it has rust everywhere, what happens if he hits something, my son is dead."

The parent claims to have made a complaint about the vehicle to Neil Moon, principal of the Carenne Special School only for nothing to be done about it. "As usual with Mr Moon, nothing gets done, I'm treated like an idiot by him," said the parent.

It's time that the department, Mr Spears and Mr Moon realise that the money going to these operators belongs to the NSW taxpayer and that we expect a decent level of service for disabled student transport, not for them to be riding around in deathtraps like Mr Spears' Spectron.

Carenne staff development day a farce

Next Monday, when staff and students at every other school in NSW return to school, Carenne Special School staff will be at a resort near Oberon for what Neil Moon has told staff is much needed "R&R" under the guise of team building. The day will cost taxpayers around $8,000.

Carenne applied to the education department to be allowed to change one of its end of year staff development days to the beginning of term 4 so it could work on recommendations in the Snowden Review of 2010 (which has been kept from parents). One of those recommendations was for interpersonal relationships between staff needed to be developed, staff needed to be able to trust each other and a more cohesive culture needed to be fostered.

Unfortunately, it is the cohesive culture that has developed at Carenne that has made it such a toxic environment for staff and students. This culture has allowed the development of a klan mentality where wrong-doing (from incompetence up to child sex abuse) is never reported because it is seen as "snitching on your mates". It is this culture that needs to be broken.

Once again it shows the continuing joke that is the Carenne Special School under the leadership of an incompetent and corrupt principal.

Mary Housler's stupidity and a rebuttal of her claims

Last evening, Carenne Support secretary and employee - Mary Housler posted on this blog refuting allegations that she had posed as Carole McDiarmid and put a letter to the school community about the claimed death of Terry Neal. She challenged me to provide evidence that it was in fact her that posted it, so here is the evidence for all to see.

In her posting she also claims:

• That she has not posted since January 2010. This is false, there are a number of documented postings by Mary Housler, usually under the name "Mary H", but some also under "Anonymous" and "Guest" on this blog which are associated with her IP and email addresses.
• That Malcolm Barnett, Peter Harvey, Neil Moon, Paul Knight and herself have invited me to meet with them. This is not true. I have requested a meeting with Lyn Duncan, Neil Moon, Peter Harvey, Carole McDiarmid and Peter Riordan in the past. All of them have declined for me to meet with them. Malcolm Barnett contacted me after the site was hacked by Anonymous requesting a meeting, however I declined his meeting as I saw it as a case of too little too late. If Mr Barnett was serious he would have met with me sooner. I have never spoken to Mary Housler or Paul Knight.
• That nobody who posts on this blog is of the caliber of Carenne's staff. This is probably true as most of the people who post on this blog are against child sexual abuse, assaulting disabled students, corruption and down right incompetence. It takes a special sort of person to be able to do this to the level that Carenne staff do.

It is about time that the department take action against Mary Housler, an appointed representative of Carenne Support.

Further incompetence surrounding RDA uncovered

Carenne Gate has uncovered further incompetence surrounding the Riding for the Disabled Association in Bathurst. Carenne Gate has learned that the structure of the organisation has been changed from an incorporated association independent of its members and administered by the Office of Fair Trading to an unincorporated association which is no longer separate from its members.

RDA has come under attention on this blog for its incompetent management and corruption in the past.

The change means that RDA no longer has to submit annual reports to the Office of Fair Trading which include details of its financial affairs. It also means that RDA no longer needs to keep:

• a register of committee members, available for inspection by anyone
• a record of any committee member conflicts of interest, available for inspection by members
• a record of the association's financial transactions and position
• all minutes of the proceedings of committee and general meetings.

On Friday, Carenne Gate spoke to the Registry of Associations and Co-Operatives in Bathurst and asked why an organisation would choose to do this. His response was -

"It's crazy. Now each member is responsible for the affairs of the organisation. If it's sued they can all be sued. Any contracts are made by a member on behalf of the organisation, not in its name. It's no longer distinct from it's members. It's crazy. Who ever did this would have to be crazy. You would only do this if you couldn't afford to pay the $49 per year or you were trying to hide something."

Once again it shows the complete incompetence of the committee running RDA in Bathurst and the secrecy surrounding the organisation.

Student in front of bus almost causes an accident

Today, Matt Casey was observed by a parent driving Carenne's bus along George Street with a student in the front seat without a seat belt. The student grabbed the steering wheel, yanking it causing the bus to swerve narrowly missing a median strip.

The parent said she was shocked the student wasn't wearing a seatbelt and was in the front of the bus.

According to a department official questioned by Carenne Gate, teachers should be in the rear if the vehicle supervising students while the aide drives. To not do so is a breach of child protection guidelines.

Carenne Support places students in serious danger

Carenne Support, reputed on this blog to be incompetent, corrupt and for student's welfare to be the least of their concerns seriously placed students at risk on Tuesday afternoon when they allowed Dave Graham to drive his bus to Lithgow in hazardous conditions.

The department had previously been told that students were allowed to stay at the school because of road closures and because it was too hazardous to take them home, however, it has been learned that Dave Graham did the run to Lithgow despite the conditions and the road being closed at 3:20PM.

It was learned through the Lithgow Mercury that Dave Graham had to be rescued by emergency services after hitting a snow drift at the bottom of Yetholme Hill. The situation could have been far worse, with the conditions being described by many as treacherous.

Once again, just like the unroadworthy buses and maligned therapy program under Christine Porter, Carenne Support is placing profit before students.

When Neil Moon was questioned about the incident, he claims that Dave Graham did the run without his permission and he knew nothing about the bus having to be rescued.

It's high time that Carenne Support lose their bus runs and are blacklisted from doing business with the department. They continue to breach their contract and continue to place lives at risk.

Students spend lonely night at Carenne due to Moon's incompetence

Just when those of us watching Carenne think that Neil Moon couldn't do anything more stupid or ridiculous he manages to surprise us by doing something even more stupid. Carenne Gate can reveal that students from Blayney and Lithgow slept at Carenne last night because Neil Moon didn't arrange for Dave Graham or Steve Minshull to take the students home early.

As cold weather fell across the area yesterday, it was made well known that roads out of Bathurst could be closed due to snow. By 3:20PM, the Great Western Highway between Bathurst and Lithgow was closed. Questions have been asked about why Neil Moon did not arrange for students to go home early.

Instead, a number of staff had to stay back to supervise students, some of which were stuck at Carenne overnight because of Moon's stupidity. It's about time that Peter Harvey wakes up to himself and does something about the incompetent, pompas fool running Carenne.

UPDATE: Information has come to hand which indicates that the department has been misled by Neil Moon about this incident. I will update this tonight - SEA Snitch

Students miss out on RDA while Melinda Gavin takes a holiday

Once again, Carenne students have missed out on the Riding for the Disabled Association horse riding program because Melinda Gavin has taken a holiday to participate in an endurance horse ride. At the same time last year, students missed out on RDA while Gavin took a holiday.

The RDA program has been beset with problems, mostly revolving around Melinda Gavin and corrupt teacher Michael Auld. It has been accused of taking part of federal government trade training centre funding for the school, not having proper insurance, took participation fees from the school during its suspension, the inappropriate funding of Michael Auld's RDA therapy farm by Carenne Special School and the over-reliance upon Melinda Gavin.

A number of angered parents and school staff have contacted Carenne Gate to ask why the RDA program has been suspended once again while Gavin takes a break during the middle of the school term. Parents feel as though they are being ripped off after being forced to pay $100 per year for their child to take part. In previous years, RDA has been funded by Carenne at a cost of $80 per student to the school.

An angry "concerned" told Carenne Gate "I am sick to death of that f---ing bitch Melinda Gavin taking holidays and disrupting RDA. RDA is paid for students to do it, why do they have to put it on hold just because the bitch wants to take a holiday. How many weeks were lost last year because of their bullshit?"

Other parents asked the same question, wanting to know why Melinda Gavin is the only person who can be at RDA while Carenne students are there. "Why are they so reliant on Mrs Gavin? Are they scared someone might come in and find something out?" said the parent.

A Carenne staff member on the RDA committee told Carenne Gate that the committee has for some time been trying to get RDA to train someone else to do the position in case Mrs Gavin is away and claims that the suggestion has always been scuttled by Mr Auld and Mrs Gavin. The staff member complained that Mrs Gavin had a "sweet deal", being able to work at RDA one day a week while being paid and then getting holidays through the middle of the term to go horse riding.

It is highly suspicious that Mrs Gavin and Mr Auld will not allow someone else to be trained to perform the job when she is absent, given the amount of time she has off work and the level of disruption this causes the RDA program. What is Auld and Gavin trying to cover up?

Carenne's illegal dumping of rubbish affects villagers

A resident of the village of Rockley, South of Bathurst has contacted Carenne Gate to report the illegal dumping of rubbish from Carenne Special School at the Rockley Waste Transfer Station. The resident claims that Carenne has been dumping rubbish at the site for sometime and avoids scrutiny by the council by going to the tip when it is closed through a hole cut in the fence by a Carenne employee.

The resident, who came across the Carenne Gate blog when doing a websearch for Carenne complains that for the last year, increasing amounts of rubbish have been dumped at Rockley by the school's groundsman Peter Taylor.

"At the moment there are cardboard boxes, computer equipment and building waste that Peter Taylor has dumped there,"

"They are so stupid that they put computer stuff and boxes in there with Carenne School still written on them, the tip is only to be used by local residents not by a school in Bathurst,"

"You can go out there some days and there will be half a steel bin full of Carenne School's rubbish, it is really starting to affect those of us who live in the village as it limits what and when we can dump, it's only open two days a week and when they fill it up before Saturday we have no way to dump anything."

"There are recycling bins there for cardboard but Carenne is too lazy to use that and to make matters worse, Peter Taylor is dumping rubbish when the tip is closed. A local saw him dumping a full ute load of stuff there on Friday even though the tip is only open on Wednesday and Saturday, he knows the tip is manned when it is open and knows he isn't allowed to dump Carenne's rubbish here,"

"There is a hole in the side fence that he cut so he can drive in and out," said the Rockley Resident.

The Rockley Resident claims that Carenne would be dumping rubbish at Rockley as it is free for residents unlike the Bathurst Waste Management Centre which charges to dump rubbish.

"Bathurst charge $50 a tonne from memory to dump rubbish, Peter Taylor can dump it at Rockley on the way home for free."

When Carenne Gate asked nedkelly about the arrangements, she claimed that for years the school had been dumping rubbish illegally. "I know of Michael Auld dumping some at Wattle Flat at the tip there and I know of Simone Russell dumping rubbish at Portland when she lived there. When Peter Taylor has more than one load of rubbish, he usually dumps it on the side of the road somewhere,"

"Neil Moon is very supportive of dumping rubbish at Rockley because it saves the school money and because people from Bathurst who might have given the school things won't find what has been wrecked or wasted out at Rockley,"

"Neil Moon says its OK because Peter lives out there, there is nothing wrong with it," said nedkelly.

According to Bathurst Regional Council, which runs the station at Rockley, to use the tip the user must own a property within the rural area.

It once again shows the complete disregard that Carenne Special School management has for other people's property, for the environment and for council rules.

Carenne Special School continues to call the police on students

I have received reports that Carenne Special School are continuing to call the Police on students. Today, Simone Russell called the Police on a student who ran from the school to the park across the road because he would ignored directions from a teacher.

When the Police arrived, the student became more defiant and refused to follow their instructions.

It demonstrates that once again that terrorising special needs students with the Police doesn't work.

Gerard Martin knew of the $48,000 wasted on sealing the wrong road

Lithgow councillor Joe McGinnes made claims on the Ray Hadley Show this morning that Gerard Martin was aware of the waste of $48,000 by Lithgow City Council when it sealed a private road instead of the road it was meant to seal.

The issue came about because there are two roads within kilometres of each other with the same name.

Mr McGinnes claimed that the subsequent ICAC investigation couldn't find the second road and closed the investigation.

It is yet another example of Gerard Martin's knowledge of significant wastage and doing nothing about it, just like that happening at the Carenne Special School.