Anger was in the air on Monday night when teachers and community members came to condemn the Murrumbidgee Regional High School merger.
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Not a word of criticism came from any of the current teachers, who were forbidden from speaking due to code of conduct policies that could result in their immediate sacking by the NSW Department of Education.
Instead, spouses, friends, ex-teachers, and councillors raised their voices on behalf of the teachers to make their grievances heard.
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At the meeting two spouses of current teachers spoke out - one of whom was furious that their better half had been silenced.
"I'm married to a teacher... and they can't speak out. Why aren't the unions doing something about that?" they said. "They're not doing their job as far as I'm concerned."
Another spouse of a teacher said they were both so disheartened by the situation that they were reluctant to send their own child to Murrumbidgee Regional High School.
"We have an 8-year-old... and to be completely honest we've already discussed sending him outside of Griffith, which is not what we want to do at all," they said.
Ex-teacher Lynelle Wilson said she was free to talk about the "unconscionable interference in education by bloody politicians", having retired from Griffith High School in 2007.
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"I've got a voice," Mrs Wilson said.
"I loved the school, [but] I see now that the whole thing has fallen to pieces... it's time to stand up and say something."
Dino Zappacosta, a Griffith City Councillor and former teacher, publicly voiced his opposition to the merger and expressed regret at not having done so earlier.
"As a former schoolteacher I know it is best to be small; you have a better interaction with the children, have more knowledge of the community, and parents," Cr Zappacosta said.
"I should have spoken up much earlier."
Member for Murray Helen Dalton, who is also a former teacher, said she was frequently on the receiving end of anonymous tip-offs from teachers who were unhappy with the merger.
"I've had plenty of people whispering things on the phone because they're terrified of talking to me [because] they're employed at the school," Mrs Dalton said.
The NSW Teachers Federation are surveying MRHS teachers to determine what proportion of them are happy with the merger.
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Kenji Sato
Kenji Sato is a handsome journalist at The Daily Advertiser who enjoys writing flattering bios about himself in the third person. He can be contacted by email at kenji.sato@dailyadvertiser.com.au or by mobile on 0448 927 612.
Kenji Sato is a handsome journalist at The Daily Advertiser who enjoys writing flattering bios about himself in the third person. He can be contacted by email at kenji.sato@dailyadvertiser.com.au or by mobile on 0448 927 612.
