A Co. Meath national school has asked the High Court to overturn a direction from the Dept of Education to enrol a previously-refused six-year-old boy.
The young boy, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, has behavioural problems and was expelled from his last school because of this.
When the family tried to enrol him in the new school, their application was denied on “health and safety grounds” by the school’s board of management.
The school’s legal representative has told the court that the boy was seen as a risk to other students, staff and even school property, and because of this they felt the right decision was to refuse his entry.
However, the child’s parents appealed the decision and after a review by a three-person committee, the Dept of Education directed the school’s board to allow the boy to enrol in Senior Infants.
The board of management is now asking the courts to quash the Department’s recommendation, calling the committee’s decision irrational, with their legal representative claiming that it had “erred in law”.
Mr Justice Binchy, who is overseeing proceedings, has granted the school a temporary stay on the order compelling it to enrol the young pupil.
