Annan tells court she never officially resigned

1.00pm - By STUART DYE, education reporter

Former Cambridge High principal Alison Annan will have to wait until Monday to see whether she will be reinstated at the Waikato school.

The controversial principal announced her resignation last month amid accusations of manipulated NCEA results, allegations of staff bullying and financial mismanagement.

But at a hearing of the Employment Relations Authority in Auckland this morning, she argued that she had never officially resigned.

Counsel for Mrs Annan, Christopher Toogood QC, told the hearing his client merely indicated her intention to resign.

She changed her mind after the outpouring of support from students and parents, but immediately received a letter saying her resignation had been accepted.

"That amounted to an unjustifiable dismissal," said Mr Toogood.

If it was held that she did in fact resign, it was caused by the failure of her employers - the Board of Trustees - to support her under huge amounts of pressure.

"It was an unjustifiable constructive dismissal," Mr Toogood said.

Mrs Annan's application was not to restore her to full duties as principal, but to put her back on the payroll and allow her to respond to a report due from the Education Review Office.

Mr Toogood said: "She recognises that a return to full duties would simply exacerbate the divisiveness and controversy which has surrounded her departure and its aftermath."

Education Minister Trevor Mallard yesterday axed the Board of Trustees and from this morning Dennis Finn, named as one of the respondents in Mrs Annan's case, was installed as commissioner.

It was the latest blow for the school which has been plagued by controversy since the allegations first surfaced.

Paul Robertson, acting for Mr Finn, argued that Mrs Annan's resignation was firmly tendered and accepted.

"It beggars belief that Mrs Annan, after a change of heart, is able to undo that resignation," he said.

The crux of the problem was that Mrs Annan's reinstatement would be impracticable. A new acting principal was in charge and several members of staff would resign if she returned, said Mr Robertson.

Authority adjudicator Maria Urlich said her written decision would be released on Monday morning. In the meantime, she banned Mr Finn from releasing or discussing the contents of a report by Dame Augusta Wallace into bullying claims at the school.

If Mrs Annan is successful, her re-appointment would be interim until a full hearing next month.