A Peel prison guard has expressed his dismay after his son was expelled from a Peel private school for talking in class and swinging on his chair, saying the rules the state's worst criminals must adhere to are not as strict.
Waroona resident Warren Twaddle said he was "frustrated" after his son Zac Twaddle, 15, was expelled from Austin Cove Baptist College earlier this month.
He said his son, who was in year 9 at the South Yunderup school, was sent out of class five times over the course of the year for talking and swinging on his chair.
Mr Twaddle said he had met with Austin Cove principal Paul Venter last week and appealed the decision, but after this was rejected he had enrolled Zac at Waroona High School.
"I did 23 years in the army, we weren't as strict or petty as this on soldiers," he said.
"I work as a prison guard now and we aren't as strict on prisoners.
"I'm so angry and frustrated. Not to let him finish an important step for the rest of his schooling, year nine, is unfair.
"For a Baptist College that is religious and preaches forgiveness - well, it just doesn't happen.
"Especially these days - if he swore at a teacher, graffitied, was bullying or fighting, then I'd have no problems removing him from the school. But for these minor issues?"
Mr Twaddle said Zac was enrolled at Austin Cove after they moved from the Northern Territory last year and the teenager was disappointed to have to change school again.
"He's devastated that he's lost friends and the structure and routine," he said.
"He was comfortable that he'd be there until he completed year 12.
"His grades are reasonably good, so it's not as if he's not learning. He's started to make friends and now they're ripping him away from that."
Mr Twaddle said Zac was not suspended from Austin Cove and the school confirmed the expulsion was due to talking in class and swinging on his chair.
An Austin Cove spokesman said it was the school's policy to expel a student if they were sent from class five times over the space of a year and as such, Zac being expelled was fair.
"Parents are contacted after each time a student has been sent to the office for disrupting a class," he said.
"The college administration has procedures laid out in the Student Management System which it must follow if a student is expelled.
"At the time of enrolment in the college, parents sign that they understand and agree to this Student Management System.
"If a family has been asked to remove a student from the college, the procedures must be followed, therefore the expulsion would be fair.
"The Student Management System at Austin Cove Baptist College is designed to enable students to learn and teachers to teach, free from disruption."
What do you think? Send us a letter to the editor by e-mailing editor@mandurahmail.com.au.
