THE secondment of Jane Stephens to the team responsible for planning the future of special needs schools came at a price. An employment tribunal at which she is claiming the Education Department acted unfairly when sacking her as head teacher at Le Rondin School entered its 11th day yesterday.

Crown Advocate Richard McMahon asked the department’s head of schools and education services, John Lamb, if he thought the secondment of Mrs Stephens to the education development plan project team in the year before the school opened had been successful.

‘If you look at it from the point of view that the school opened on time and within budget, that might have been so,’ he said.

But Mr Lamb added that interpersonal conflict that involved numerous team members when working with Mrs Stephens and the high level of stress that caused, plus the fact that an experienced officer ‘Yvonne Hodder’ felt the need to leave the service because of it, had been the downside.

He told how various issues had arisen involving Mrs Stephens’ working relationship with other staff throughout 2004.

She was adamant that the school was not ready to open when it did in September 2005 and Mr Lamb acknowledged it had ‘been close to the wire’ whether it would or not.

Practical completion of the school that had originally been scheduled for May that year was put back to September. Mr Lamb said two former head teachers who had acted as consultants and everybody else on the development plan team were satisfied the building was ready.

The tribunal heard that Mrs Stephens and Mrs Hodder, the project director, were at odds over who would have responsibility for line managing the two caretakers.

Initially, it was thought that Mrs Stephens would do it but she had indicated during her secondment that she would not.

A long meeting between the women, Mr Lamb and education director Derek Neale failed to resolve it.

Mr Lamb said Mr Neale had eventually resolved the matter by saying Mrs Hodder would manage the caretakers and Mrs Stephens would have responsibility for the administration staff.

Mrs Stephens initially accepted that but later changed her mind.

Mr Lamb said he considered issues with Mrs Stephens to be more capability related than conduct ones. He was concerned that she might not share the same vision as everyone else for Le Rondin, of which her decision to have limited involvement in the official opening of it by Prince Andrew in July 2005 was an aspect.

‘When the EDP team were told that a royal visitor might open the school they were delighted, but I found Mrs Stephens’ reaction strange,’ he said.

‘She said it would be the last day of term and if it was happening after midday, staff might not be interested.’

In discussions with Mrs Stephens, he said she had sometimes suggested leaving the service but they had always ended with her reaffirming her commitment to education.

The tribunal resumes on 21 February.