❓ Mr. Rundle questions the Minister for Education regarding student suspensions at Rossmoyne Senior High School, particularly concerning an incident in 2022 and a recent physical altercation. The Minister defends the school's actions and clarifies previous statements.
AnsweredQoN 296Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
ROSSMOYNE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL — STUDENT SUSPENSION
296. Mr P.J. RUNDLE to the Minister for Education:
I refer to the time line of events
at Rossmoyne Senior High School. Firstly, an explosion in the toilets in 2022,
which the minister, in Parliament on Tuesday, denied took place. The student
was subsequently suspended and enrolled in a countering violent extremism
program. The minister's director general indicated yesterday —
'' There was no indication at that point that he was at a risk in terms of
an imminent threat to danger in the school'' �
Then a physical altercation with another student took place
last week. The student was subsequently suspended again. What does it take to
exclude a child from the public school system in WA?
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
296. Mr P.J. RUNDLE to the Minister for Education:
I refer to the time line of events
at Rossmoyne Senior High School. Firstly, an explosion in the toilets in 2022,
which the minister, in Parliament on Tuesday, denied took place. The student
was subsequently suspended and enrolled in a countering violent extremism
program. The minister's director general indicated yesterday —
'' There was no indication at that point that he was at a risk in terms of
an imminent threat to danger in the school'' �
Then a physical altercation with another student took place
last week. The student was subsequently suspended again. What does it take to
exclude a child from the public school system in WA?
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
AnswerView source ↗
I start off by correcting a complete
misrepresentation of what was said in Parliament. We never denied there was an explosion. We said there was no major damage,
as the member's junior partner was estimating. That is what we said .
The Minister for Police got up in the matter of public interest and explained
in some detail what happened. Then the
member's junior partner tried to question him about what is a bomb.
This is a bloke who has spent 30-odd years as a Navy clearance diver; I think
he might have some idea.
Anyway, getting to the substance of
the question, the school has acted appropriately at all times. As the member
said, it suspended the student back in 2022. He was suspended last week for a period
of time. As members would also know, last year I made some announcements in
regards to enhancing our anti-violence program, and I made quite clear to
principals that we had their back and that they can use the full force of the
law and also the policy framework in the education department. If they feel a student
should be excluded, they will exclude the student. His behaviour at the time
was deemed by the principal to warrant a suspension and that is what happened.
misrepresentation of what was said in Parliament. We never denied there was an explosion. We said there was no major damage,
as the member's junior partner was estimating. That is what we said .
The Minister for Police got up in the matter of public interest and explained
in some detail what happened. Then the
member's junior partner tried to question him about what is a bomb.
This is a bloke who has spent 30-odd years as a Navy clearance diver; I think
he might have some idea.
Anyway, getting to the substance of
the question, the school has acted appropriately at all times. As the member
said, it suspended the student back in 2022. He was suspended last week for a period
of time. As members would also know, last year I made some announcements in
regards to enhancing our anti-violence program, and I made quite clear to
principals that we had their back and that they can use the full force of the
law and also the policy framework in the education department. If they feel a student
should be excluded, they will exclude the student. His behaviour at the time
was deemed by the principal to warrant a suspension and that is what happened.
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