Several siblings have been expelled from a faith-based school in St Kilda because their parents refused to sign a memorandum of understanding that limited who they could talk to about the alleged sexual abuse of their children.
The parents expressed concerns last month when the school proposed reintegrating a student who had been the subject of a police investigation and complaints of sexual abuse towards other, younger students.
Eliezer Kornhauser, the founder and acting principal of the small private school Cheder Levi Yitzchok, wrote to the parents on Monday that their children’s continued presence at the school was “untenable”.
“As of Monday 5th December, your children are no longer welcome to attend the school,” he said.
The students might be welcomed back next year, “but we would need to see clear evidence of a change in your mindset, leading to a very different set of behaviours on your part”, he wrote.
Kornhauser had insisted that the parents sign an MOU if they wanted their children to remain at the school, which caters to Melbourne’s small Jewish ultra-Orthodox Chabad movement.
The MOU said the parents should air their concerns with school leadership or the authorities but refrain from speaking with other school staff, parents, advocacy groups or the media.
Read the article by Adam Carey in The Age.