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Principal support

Alison Winward
24/ 1/2008

THE principal of top-performing Holy Cross College in Bury, has been ‘overwhelmed’ by the support he has received since resigning his post.

Mike O’Hare resigned after a row with the college’s chair of governors, Anne Fox and since his announcement nearly 200 members of staff signed a letter in support of him to Mrs Fox, while a Facebook group supporting him attracted 895 members in just 72 hours.

The dispute began last May, after Mr O'Hare, principal for 15 years at the Manchester Road Catholic college, wrote to the governors expressing reservations about a newly-selected deputy principal, then shared his concerns with college management.

Mrs Fox, head of governors for around 10 years, claimed that by doing so he had breached confidentiality rules.

Mr O'Hare, 63, from Alkrington, Middleton, was given a written warning for alleged misconduct and lost a subsequent appeal.

He has now formally resigned and will leave the college in August. Two staff governors, a teacher and a member of support staff have also resigned in protest.

Mr O'Hare, who vehemently denies doing anything wrong, said that although he was due to retire either this year or next, the dispute had persuaded him to leave sooner.

"I just wanted to make it clear that the ‘misconduct’ wasn‘t fraud or anything like that," he said. "I don‘t feel I’ve done anything wrong."

Mr O'Hare said it was ‘inconceivable’ that he would not have discussed such an important topic as the appointment of a deputy principal with the college management team.

Mr O'Hare, who joined Holy Cross 28 years ago, said he had been ‘absolutely overwhelmed’ by the support shown by pupils, staff and others.

He said: "I've had emails, cards, all sorts; it’s quite emotional really. It’s really nice that people have taken the trouble to do this."

While Mr O'Hare has been principal, Holy Cross has quintupled in size, from 350 pupils to 1,750, and risen to the top of the national league tables. For the past three years, it has been in the top 10 nationally for A-Level results.

The Learning and Skills Council, which looks at education standards, also recently ranked it second best in the country in terms of success rates, determined by combining pupil achievement and retention rates.

Governors were due to discuss the situation at a meeting last Friday; but the board of governors were unavailable for comment.