Neil Morton RMG78
THE PRINCIPAL of Portora Royal School has ‘no regrets’ over sending out a controversial letter to parents at the school voicing his disapproval over the appointment of Elizabeth Armstrong as the head of the new amalgamated school.
In the correspondence sent out to over 400 parents and carers of pupils at Portora Royal School two weeks ago it criticises Ms Armstrong for her “implacable opposition” in the path to amalgamation and stressed the significant expense of a judicial review into the Minister’s decision. In the letter he states “damascene conversion has come at a very high price”.
Speaking last Friday Mr Morton said he had no regrets about sending out the letter and refuted claims it was sent to poison the minds of prospective parents at the new school against Ms Armstrong.
“I think parents should be aware of the context of the new school and be able to make judgements about the arrangements in the new school, the curriculum in the new school in the knowledge of that context.
In terms of what has been thrown at me and my Board of Governors by those who opposed to the amalgamation over the last couple of years this is small fry, all I am doing is reminding people of the facts, what I am not doing is what was common in the campaign against the amalgamation, I am not telling lies or misinterpreting or misaprehending, sowing panic, fear or hysteria. I am simply reporting what happened and what is there and I have pieces of evidence for everything I said.”
He continued: “I don’t think there is anything undignified about the letter as the letter is simply describing what happened, what the facts are. This opposition to the amalgamation has damaged Fermanagh education beyond anyone’s present realisation.”
Mr Morton stated the letter is not ‘sour grapes’, but did question the appointment of Ms Armstrong in the context of her previous opposition to amalgamation and asked why this was not taken into account when the final decision was made. He further highlighted the cost of representation to Portora for the legal challenge at over £70,000 and the final cost of judicial review at £300,000.
“I question the integrity of someone who holds up progress for 10 years and then suddenly jumps on the bandwagon and proclaims allegiance to it in a matter of days. I question the professional integrity of that decision, I think she has made an ill-informed decision to move forward with the new school because I don’t think she will have the confidence of all of the people involved in the new school.”
After joining Portora in 2002 Mr Morton will not be in Enniskillen when the new school starts, as he has been seconded to Belfast to work for the Education Authority. There was an option to stay on, but he said that “would not be a healthy situation.” When asked for his working relationship with Ms Armstrong Mr Morton replied: “Ms Armstrong and I have very different views on what education should be.”
After 14 years in Fermanagh the outgoing head has expressed his fear that the Enniskillen Royal Grammar School will be ‘Collegiate centric’ and the values of Portora will be lost.
“This is fundamentally wrong that there is no consequence, no accountability for 10 years opposition to change and then trying to grasp and jump on it. The worry is this is just another strategy to stop change. We’ll take control, we’ll destroy it, we’ll turn it into another Collegiate.”
Mr Morton insists he has had a positive response to the letter, with one parent stating to him he had “articulated what the silent majority had been thinking”.
Answering a request from the Herald, Miss Armstrong indicated that she did not wish to make a response.
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