Ripon school staff member suspended as misconduct inquiry launched

A SENIOR member of staff has been suspended from a North Yorkshire secondary school while an investigation into an allegation of misconduct is carried out.

The allegations relate to a member of the management team of Ripon College, a secondary school bidding to become one of the Government’s flagship academies.

North Yorkshire County Council last night confirmed an investigation was taking place but refused to comment further on who the member of the staff was or to what the allegation related.

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Top officials from the council have been in the school this week for talks with Ripon College in preparation for the school opting out of council control to become an academy funded directly by the Government.

A North Yorkshire County Council spokesman said: “We can confirm that a senior member of staff at Ripon College has been suspended pending an investigation into an allegation of misconduct.

“Senior officers from the county council’s Children and Young People’s Service are currently meeting members of the college management team to discuss a number of issues in the run-up to Ripon College’s change of status to an academy.”

The spokesman added that neither the suspension or the talks with Ripon College management related to the former head teacher Paul Lowery who killed himself earlier this year after being arrested over allegations that he had possessed 10,000 indecent images of children.

Mr Lowery had been head of Ripon College for more than 10 years before leaving the school in 2008.