Headteacher John Roberts has denied bullying a grandmother out of her job.

Oakbank head Mr Roberts says former finance manager Elizabeth Mitchell's allegations of bullying and harassment after she blew the whistle on financial "irregularities" are unproven.

In an exclusive statement to the Keighley News, he says: "The allegations have never been proven and there is surely something wrong with a system that allows them to be broadcast in public."

Mrs Mitchell, 52, of Riddlesden, has just been awarded £10,000 in an out of court settlement after her unfair dismissal case was taken up by public service union Unison.

She had refused to add £68,000 to tenders for building work at the school as she believed it to be wrong.

When school management disagreed, she contacted the Funding Agency for Schools - controller of grant maintained school's budgets under the 1998 Public Interest Disclosure Act - dubbed the Whistle Blowers' Charter.

But a campaign of harassment followed, including headteacher John Roberts once stopping Mrs Mitchell leaving her office, allege Unison. She eventually suffered stress-related health problems and says she was forced to resign.

Unison say Mrs Mitchell could have sued for more, but as the school was not insured for this, the cash would have had to come from money meant for pupils. She said she would not "deprive" pupils of funding.

Mrs Mitchell told the KN this week she was never in any doubt that reporting Oakbank was the right thing.

She says: "It's been absolutely dreadful, but I couldn't not do it. I could not compromise on my own professional integrity.

"I'm lucky to have had the support of Unison and my family - to do it alone would be a nightmare. When I discovered financial irregularities, the first thing I did was take it to management. When they didn't listen, I didn't know what to do next - except follow government guidelines.

"I am a very professional person - I do things by the book and I do them right.

"I felt very let down by all this hostility and the way I was treated by the senior manager and governors."

Mrs Mitchell has since found another job with a charity and looks forward to putting the case behind her and enjoying life with her children and grandchildren.

Keighley MP Ann Cryer says: "All schools must be transparent in their financial dealings and exercise the utmost financial probity with respect to bids for additional funding."

Mrs Mitchell's revelation led to the retraction of Oakbank's Sports College status last July and a DfEE investigation.

But the status has since been restored in the public's interest.

Mr Roberts says Mrs Mitchell made allegations that she had been improperly treated as a result of her "whistleblowing". Her claims were twice found to have "no substance" in the school's grievance procedures by the governors' disciplinary and grievance committee.

He adds that the school felt confident that the tribunal would have agreed with their view that no improper pressures of any kind had been put on Mrs Mitchell.

The governors' reluctantly agreed to an out of court settlement.

He explains: "They felt they could not face the slender possibility the tribunal might decide to award damages - under recent legislation there is no limit to the compensation which can be awarded in whistleblowing cases.

"With our students' education at stake we simply could not take the risk.

Mrs Mitchell's financial concerns related to the construction of a fire escape ,something Mr Roberts says was openly discussed and represented "better value for money than the DfEE expected".

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