A Halls Creek college instructor who was charged and later cleared over revealing abysmal attendance numbers has launched a Go Fund Me web page for his protection as new figures reveal a serious drop in Kimberley college attendance over the previous two years.
On February 22, Brock Burston launched his Go Fund Me page forward of a Public Service Enchantment Board listening to on March Three that may decide whether or not the Schooling Division sanctions imposed on him will stay in place.
It’s the newest within the years-long battle that has seen Mr Burston pursued by the Division of Schooling for revealing truancy numbers in an nameless letter to the Shire of Halls Creek in late 2020.
It comes as new figures disclosed in Parliament on January 14 revealed a drastic drop within the common college attendance throughout all years of schooling all through the Kimberley over the previous two years.
The figures got in response to a query posed by Mining and Pastoral MLC Neil Thomson with Finance Minster Sue Ellery offering the attendance numbers for Halls Creek, Fitzroy Valley, Wyndham and Derby District excessive faculties alongside East Kimberley Faculty.
The worst of the figures have been for Derby District Excessive Faculty which noticed a 40 per cent drop in Yr 12 attendance from 70.2 per cent in semester considered one of 2021 to 30.Three per cent within the first semester of 2022.
Halls Creek District Excessive Faculty additionally noticed a fall of almost 20 per cent in Yr 12 attendance from 30 per cent to simply 11.9 per cent.
East Kimberley Faculty noticed no enchancment with attendance dropping throughout all 12 months teams whereas Fitzroy Valley District Excessive Faculty recorded probably the most enchancment with its Yr 7 to 11 college students all rising attendance.
Wyndham and Halls Creek district excessive faculties noticed some minor enchancment of their kindergarten, pre-primary, Yr 3, 5 and 11 attendance whereas all different age teams dropped.
However the launch of the woeful attendance numbers has not eased the Division of Schooling’s fervour in pursuing Mr Burston.
Mr Burston’s Go Fund Me web page particulars the lengthy wrestle with the Schooling Division, from being criminally charged to watching former Education Minister Sue Ellery forced to apologize in Parliament for her half within the debacle through which truancy numbers have been fudged.
In Could final 12 months, Division of Schooling director normal Lisa Rodgers punished Mr Burston, calling for his household to switch out of the Kimberley and be relocated to an unspecified location for an unspecified period of time in a supernumerary place which he now plans to combat.
Describing himself as an advocate for deprived youngsters, Mr Burston mentioned he had been handled like a prison.
“For the previous 20 months, my household and I’ve been publicly defamed, persecuted, harassed and bullied by the Division of Schooling,” he mentioned.
“To at the present time, the Division of Schooling is relentlessly penalizing me.”
Since mid-2021, Mr Burston has been standing down on full pay.
