Two head teachers of primary school infiltrated by hard-line religious sect are axed from their posts

The Daily Record & Sunday Mail, UK/September 13, 2013

Sandra MacKenzie and Liz Mockus have been redeployed to other duties after the Daily Record exposed the Church of Christ at Kirktonholme Primary in East Kilbride.

THE two head teachers of a primary school infiltrated by a hard-line religious sect were removed from their posts yesterday.

Sandra MacKenzie and Liz Mockus were “redeployed to other duties” after a parents’ outcry over the presence of the extremist Church of Christ at Kirktonholme Primary in East Kilbride.

The sect had already been barred from the school after the Daily Record told how they handed hundreds of books to children which denied evolution and com-pared atheism to abortion.

American “missionaries” from the Church of Christ, who see Scotland as fertile ground for converts, also worked closely with pupils as volunteers.

MacKenzie and Mockus shared the head’s duties at Kirktonholme. They have been replaced by a temporary management team.

Parents were given the news in a letter from South Lanarkshire Council’s education director, Jim Gilhooly.

It followed an emergency meeting on Tuesday where mums and dads vented their fury about the church being given access to their kids.

One parent who was there said: “There were a lot of angry parents, but no one wanted to come out and say they wanted the head teachers out to their faces.

“There is a view that they have done a decent job at Kirktonholme. But this lapse in judgment is catastrophic and hard to forgive.

“It would have been very difficult for them to carry on as normal after the books were handed out. A line was crossed in terms of trust.”

MacKenzie in particular had been criticised for allowing the sect to distribute their books. When parents complained, she told them they should accept the church’s “generous gift”.

In his letter, sent home in pupils’ schoolbags, Gilhooly said it was clear from his discussions with parents that “everyone was keen to see the school move on from the current situation.

“Hopefully these initial actions help to achieve this. I want to assure you the safety and education of your children are paramount in all our minds.”

The director told the Record: “As indicated to parents, a full investigation into management practices in the school has been instigated.

“In order to assist with this, the head teachers have been redeployed to other duties within Education Resources, with immediate effect.”

Council officials are investigating the workings of the school’s chaplaincy service and the role of the Parent Council, and will examine issues regarding security.

The Church of Christ have also been removed from East Kilbride’s Greenburn Primary, which caters for children with special needs, and banned from using school premises for youth clubs.

The council are understood to be investigating all their other schools to ensure they have not been infiltrated.

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