'Why has the church treated us this way?' asks County Derry principal

A County Derry principal has published an open letter laying out a number of concerns over how the Church of Ireland (CoI) handled the closure of a local school.

Fiona Brown, principal of Desertmartin Primary School, which will close officially at the end of this month, says the Church of Ireland, who ran the school, have refused to engage with parents and staff.

Writing in a personal capacity, Mrs Brown said there had been a lack of transparency and openness from some church officers, and that they had ignored a Freedom of Information request.

“Requests to meet with representatives of the CoI are just being ignored,” she said.

“Most recently, at the end of May, I emailed both Archbishop McDowell & Bishop Forster. Both their secretaries replied to say the emails had been received.

“Over two months on there has been nothing further from either. This has happened on at least six occasions.

Desertmartin PS will close for good at the end of this month.

“25 questions have been asked of the Church of Ireland, many on two or three occasions. These have been straightforward like dates of decisions or copies of minutes. There have been no answers.

“When a Freedom of Information request was sent to the Church, the response came back that ‘Churches do not have to respond to Freedom of Information requests’.

“We have since discovered this is not even legally accurate in our case, as a publicly funded body.

“Another phrase that has been offered as an explanation several times is ‘that’s not the way we do things in the Church of Ireland’.

“It is a further reality that when put together, the various scraps of concrete information we have been able to gather do not even add up to the same story, which is very concerning indeed.

“One of the most frequent comments parents and others in the community have made to me has been ‘you wouldn’t believe a church would treat people like this'.

“The actions of some representatives of the Church of Ireland have left the parents, pupils and staff of Desertmartin PS feeling as if nobody in that body has any concern or care for them as people.”

Mrs Brown concluded the letter by calling on the Church of Ireland to simply acknowledge the 'hurt' caused by their perceived lack of engagement.

“If church representatives were willing to actually listen to and acknowledge the hurt there is, it would go a long way to reaching a sense of closure,” she added.

When contacted by the County Derry Post, the Diocese of Derry and Raphoe declined to comment.

County Derry primary school closes doors for the final time

The school has a 130-year history in the area.

County Derry parent accuses authorities of 'radio silence' over school closure

Desertmartin PS is set to close its doors in August after 130 years in operation.

Department of Education approve closure plan for County Derry school

Education Minister Peter Weir made the decision yesterday.