Parents protest sackings at Hong Kong’s troubled Canadian International School
Board of governors to meet parents amid discord at Canadian International School
In response to the rally, the school said it would host a meeting for all parents as soon as possible.
The parents said they were rallying in support of Dylan Hughes - who was fired as principal of the primary section almost three weeks after going on leave - and his deputy Kathy Nutting, who was sacked after she told parents about Hughes' absence.
The school said yesterday that it had not forced Hughes to take leave, and had not previously disclosed details of the leave to protect his privacy. In a March 14 interview, head teacher Dr Gregg Maloberti replied "no" when asked if Hughes had requested the week's leave from March 9.
Hughes had not replied by last night to a media request for comment.
Earlier in the day, parents at the rally said their children were upset over the dismissals of the principal and vice-principal and had been going home crying.
Philippa Haydon, who has five children in the primary section, said her business was in Hong Kong - but her family would leave for Australia around the end of the year because of governance issues at the school.
She believed a small number of founding members had been "dictating" the business of the school, and that the head teacher did not inspire confidence in parents because he had been executing the members' wishes.
"[The members] have a vision for the school," Haydon said. "We are irrelevant in that vision."
Another parent, Morgan Parker, said all attempts to establish communication with the school had failed. "We feel it's necessary for us to physically demonstrate our dissatisfaction with the head of school and board of governors," he said.
Other parents said they wanted to know if the school had followed due process in ending the pair's contracts and demanded an explanation for the decisions.
A spokeswoman for the school said that over the past few months, Hughes had indicated several times that he was "struggling to support" the head teacher and the board as required in his contract.
"There have been ongoing discussions in order to attempt to resolve such issues between the school and Dylan and last week's decision [to dismiss him] was only made after all other avenues had been exhausted," she said.
"The school will continue to hold dialogue with all stakeholders, including ongoing meetings with parents and teachers, and will hold a group meeting for all parents as soon as is feasible."
Maloberti came to the rally and spoke to the parents for about an hour, but they felt their questions were left unanswered. They said the school promised them a meeting with the board next month, after which they would decide on their next step.
Several parents, however, are supportive of Maloberti and say the controversy has not affected teaching. They urged others to give him enough time to prove he could oversee reform of the school's governance.