The Ombudsman has ordered an Auckland high school to apologise to a student who was expelled for telling a teacher to "f**k off".
Macleans College has been advised it should say sorry for kicking out the teen after his family lodged a formal complaint about his treatment.
The boy, then 17, was expelled in 2019 after an altercation with a teacher over an iPad. The boy told The Herald he was using the iPad to complete an assignment, as he has dysgraphia (difficulty writing).
His teacher told him to get off the device, which he repeatedly refused. He claims the teacher then tried to take it from him, to which he responded "f***k off, don't touch my shit".
Students can be expelled if they commit "gross misconduct that sets a harmful or dangerous example for other students".
Macleans school board decided the teen's actions reached that threshold - but the Ombudsman disagrees.
"Whether his behaviour was gross misconduct is not subject to the board's own standards, as the board seems to be arguing. There is less flexibility in interpreting the threshold for gross misconduct than the board thinks," the Ombudsman said in a decision provided to The Herald.
He believed the student's behaviour was not gross misconduct as it was not "reprehensible to a high degree".
But the ACT Party's education spokesperson says school boards should be free to decide how to run their scools "without interference".
Chris Baillie says this decision will only "embolden students".
"I was a teacher for 22 years. I know that nipping behaviour from students in the bud is important and if you don’t, it emboldens them."
He says schools should be free to discipline however they see fit.
"If MacLeans College or any other school decides that a student telling a teacher to f-off after refusing initial instructions does not reach their standards and they want to suspend them, they should be able to."
Although admitting he did not know all the details, he says "on the face of it" the decision sets a "terrible precedent".
"Other school boards will be wondering whether they have any say at all in running their school."
Newshub has contacted the Ombudsman for a copy of the judgement.
