In the UK, a mother has spoken out after hearing an accidental voicemail from a school staff ranting about her son.
back in 2018, Leighanne Bromley, 29, from Cheylesmore in England said RNIB Three Spires Academy in Coventry called after her son Harley, 10, stayed home because he was off sick.
Leighanne called the school around 7:30 am to let them know her son was off with a cold after Harley had come home the day before with a note saying he’d been ill.
A member of staff then left a friendly voicemail asking about Harley’s health and when he would be returning to school but failed to disconnect and went on to make rude comments about the schoolboy which were recorded.
Believing Leighanne had hung up, the staff goes on to say: “And make sure he’s off all [redacted] week.”
While a man in the background adds: “what about two weeks?”
The woman and male member of the school staff then joked about Harley being kept out of school until the end of term with the male worker can be heard saying: “she was just making sure Harley is off all week, and the second question is could you keep him off next week as well?”
The woman replied saying: “yes please until the end of the year”.
The man then jokes about Harley being returned to school on July 27, after the start of the UK summer holidays.
Laughter and swearing can be heard throughout the recording, which has been heard more than 117,000 times since Leighanne shared it on Facebook.
The heartbroken mom said she couldn’t believe the contents of the message.
“I looked at my phone I saw I had a missed call from the school and they’d left the voicemail,” Leighanne said. “It was then I heard the message. My initial reaction was just shock.”
“My jaw just hit the floor, I was stunned,” the mother said. “I couldn’t make it out at first, so I had to listen to it over and over again. I was just in disbelief.”
Leighanne said the message came on the back of a difficult year for her son who had developed some behavioral problems as he has grown older.
But she said the issues were minor and she had attempted to coordinate with the school on how best to deal with Harley, who had previously had no problems over three-and-a-half years at Three Spires.
Although she admitted recently she has felt staff were insensitive in dealing with Harley’s behavioral issues.
Leighanne said Harley was diagnosed with an autistic spectrum disorder aged four-and-a-half in 2013 and has a developmental delay and added that he is a “sweet” boy.
“When he first attended my impression was that it was a really good school and that he was progressing really well,” Leighanne said.
“The school is good itself but there has been an issue with the staff,” Leighanne said.point 215 |
“They’ve had a few behavioral issues with Harley but they just don’t seem to have sympathy.point 86 | I have asked the school to move Harley into a different class temporarily, while the investigation is taking place.point 183 | ”point 190 | 1
“They were understanding and offered me an apology, but just weren’t interested in moving him,” the mother said. “They said they were going to give the male member of staff a verbal warning and give a written warning to the female member of staff.”
“He’s a really lovely boy,” Leighanne said. “A lot of the issues he’s had at school I haven’t had at home. He’s just a sweet, funny little boy with a sweet personality.”
Leighanne took the matter to the school’s headteacher and in a meeting demanded the staff involved face suspension.
She said she felt obliged to make the recording public after the school sent a text to parents warning of a possible negative news story being reported. The text went on to say the matter was under investigation and was not a safeguarding concern.
The school which accommodates children aged from four to 11 with significant learning disabilities has posted an apology to Leighanne on its website and headteacher Rob Jones said he had been in direct contact with her since the incident.
“We offer a full and sincere apology to Leighanne Bromley,” Robert Jones, headteacher of Three Spires said. “This type of behavior is not acceptable and goes against the values of our school. We are taking this matter seriously and a full internal investigation is taking place and robust action will be taken where appropriate.”