Onslow College principal on leave amid police investigation into college staff member
Onslow College.
Photo:
Supplied/Google Maps Street View
A deputy principal from
Onslow College
in Wellington is on leave, while the police have confirmed they have received a complaint about a school staff member and are making inquiries.
The school told parents it was "undertaking a process" concerning Connor Baird, one of five deputy principals at the college, who is currently on leave.
The note to parents, sent on Wednesday morning and signed off by the principal and two board chairs, addressed a recent media query about "rumours circulating in our community relating to Deputy Principal Mr Baird, who is currently on leave".
"Onslow College is undertaking a process that ensures the matter is managed respectfully and fairly," it said.
But as the process was confidential, it needed to respect the privacy of everyone involved were not able to provide further information, the school statement said.
"We kindly ask our community to avoid speculation, which can have unintended consequences," it said.
"The wellbeing of our students, staff and whānau is our highest priority."
Wellington Police confirmed to RNZ they were making enquiries after receiving a complaint relating to an Onslow College staff member.
"We are working to determine if any criminal offending has taken place."
The teaching council registration database shows Baird has "voluntarily agreed not to teach".
It told RNZ: "When there are serious allegations made regarding a teacher's conduct, the Teaching Council's Triage Committee may seek a voluntary agreement with the teacher to step away from teaching while the matter is investigated to ensure a fair and transparent process."
It should be seen as a precautionary measure without any implication or assumption of guilt, it said.
"In general, the Teaching Council does not comment on complaints or Mandatory Reports that have been made to the Council (including confirming whether one has recently or previously been received in relation to a specific teacher, ECE centre, school or Kura). This is to ensure we act in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020 and the principles of natural justice."
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero
,
a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
8 minutes ago
- RNZ News
Bay of Plenty crash victim later found dead at home
Photo: RNZ / REECE BAKER A man has been found dead in Bay of Plenty after being involved in a crash last night. Police were called to an address in Te Puke on Wednesday morning after a man's body was found. It was later discovered that he was involved in a crash on No 3 Road in Te Puke on Tuesday night. A police investigation into the circumstances of the crash and the death is underway. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
2 hours ago
- RNZ News
Waikato Council installed 'stupid' road layout on back of six complaints
The chicanes being used for the new road layour. Photo: RNZ / Natalie Akoorie A council that installed chicanes on a once quiet country lane-turned-rat-run to force drivers to reduce speed, did so after only six formal complaints and without consulting the community. The move infuriated Tamahere residents near Hamilton , who say the reflector hipsticks and one-lane chicanes are a major crash hazard during fog and at certain times of the day with sun strike. At an explosive public meeting in the sought-after Waikato country suburb on Tuesday night, the majority of about 70 residents who attended, demanded Waikato District Council end the trial now. "My suggestion is the trial is over," one man said to a round of applause. "I think the quicker they're removed the better and I think we're now sitting in a stupid, dangerous situation there." The four-month trial of four chicanes on a stretch of Birchwood Lane was introduced without notice in mid-May and was due to run until September after the council received six formal complaints and other emails about excessive speed on the road. The backlash was immediate, with residents bemoaning the new road layout on social media and rejoicing when vandals removed two of the chicanes just four days later. The new layout. Photo: RNZ / Natalie Akoorie Council general manager of service delivery Megan May apologised at the meeting for the lack of consultation and pointed to data taken from a week in 2022 which showed the average speed of drivers on the 50 kilometres an hour road was 61kmh. A small number were travelling faster than 70kmh. She said the speeding appeared to be from motorists passing through the area who were trying to avoid congestion at the Airport Rd roundabout and Tamahere on-ramp to the Waikato Expressway. "Rat-runners" were instead detouring through Tamahere back roads including Birchwood Lane, she said. The lane became a feeder route to the city and other parts of Tamahere that had their access to Hamilton closed with the opening of Alfred Main Drive, which only provides access to nearby Hamilton suburb Hillcrest. An aerial view of Birchwood Lane in Tamahere shows the road is a feeder for Newell Rd and also traffic from Airport Rd into the Hamilton suburb of Hillcrest via Alfred Main Dr. Traffic using Alfred Main Dr cannot access the Waikato Expressway. Photo: RNZ/Googlemaps But Birchwood Lane resident Andrew Mowbray pointed out the data showed the speeding was largely confined to between 8am to 9am and 2pm to 3pm, when the nearby Tamahere Model Country School started and ended each day, pointing to residents as the speedsters. Mowbray argued the road had the wrong speed limit and could cope with 60kmh which was why the average speed was 10kmh above the speed limit and pointed to surrounding roads which were 60kmh. Another resident queried how many crashes had occurred on the road during the three years since the data was collected; the answer was two. One of those was a drunk driver who was charged by police. A Waikato Hospital emergency department doctor and Tamahere resident queried how the chicanes protected children and pedestrians using the Birchwood Lane cycleway to get to and from school, the shops and the park, when none offered a way for pedestrians to cross the road. She asked why a speed camera and pedestrian crossings including on nearby Wiremu Tamihana Dr weren't considered instead. Waikato District road policing manager inspector Jeff Penno said to be eligible for a speed camera the road must have a documented crash risk. Birchwood Lane didn't. Penno told the meeting he was surprised at the new road layout because of the potential for head-on crashes. "The police have concerns about the conflict of vehicles. We've been there the last two weeks - we are seeing vehicles speed up to get through." Residents pointed out there was no indication of who was supposed to give way. Penno said police recently issued 129 speeding tickets. Residents felt the chicanes were pointless because they didn't effectively address the speeding concerns or make the road safer for pedestrians. Other traffic calming measures including a painted median-barrier strip pushed cars into potholes and loose gravel, which one man said was extremely dangerous. "S*** I hope the council's preparing themselves for a head-on accident. You guys are gonna be liable. You really will because you've had the feedback, you know it's dangerous and your proposal is you would like to carry on with the trial." When May asked if the council should wait until there was a death or a child hit on the road before the council did something a woman replied pointing out a lot of people believed the road was more dangerous now. "How would you feel if someone was killed because of what you've put in? That's what we're hearing tonight." Resident Lauren McLean said she supported the trial and asked what the community gained if the speed increased to 60khm. "Tell me what we lose. If we have trucks going down there at 60 or 70, we start degrading the road and trust me I live on Birchwood Lane, I see the trucks go past every day. "We make it less safe for our children to cross. We make it less safe for people using the cycle path. We make it less safe for horses. We make it noisy for residents." Tamahere Community Committee chairperson Charles Fletcher said Birchwood Lane, once a private right-of-way that was extended to become a through-road in 2018, was never designed to be the feeder road it was being used as. "We made submissions on that road when the council decided to open it up and turn it into a feeder road; we said that it had to be upgraded to the same standards as Newell Rd. "The council over-ruled us and said 'No it doesn't have to because it's not going to get that much traffic on it'." He said the trial should be aborted. "This trial's probably over and I think the council should take all that crap down and start again." Residents asked the council to remove the chicanes, consider the concerns about the danger and the typography of the road after one of the chicanes was installed at the top of a dip causing a number of near-misses, and come up with a better solution.
RNZ News
2 hours ago
- RNZ News
Thieves target Bay of Plenty orchards for scrap metal
Photo: RNZ/Carol Stiles Sheet metal from outbuildings and copperwires from frost fans are among some of the things being targeted by thieves for scrap metal amidst an increase on orchard thefts in Bay of Plenty. Te Puke police sergeant Mike Owens said since January they'd had close to 40 such burglaries, adding those were just the ones reported to police. "Items that get targeted are farm vehicles, equipment, tools, diesel from frost fans, other machinery, trailers, solar panels and of course the frost fans also have batteries attached to them as well." He said it was an unfortunately common experience for growers and farmers during the busy harvest season, when many might be travelling between sites or have additional people on-farm. Taking preventative measures was key to deterring these kind of thefts, he said. Things like storing equipment securely away or out of view. "Generally good locks, good security makes it more difficult. "Farmers and orchardists being lovely rural people will tend to leave keys in their vehicle or sheds and equipment unlocked." Owens said some frost fans had been rigged up with sensor lights and alarms which acted as a good deterrence. "I've seen footage where that has immediately deterred, obviously an alarms come one deterred the thief, and off they've gone again." Police recently executed search warrants and recovered a large number of items which they were in the process of returning to their owners. Owens said it was important for growers and farmers to report these kinds of incidents to police. He said it was also helpful to make note of any identifying features of items which might be targeted which might help with recovery efforts.
