Investigation into ‘racist’ e-mail sent from head’s computer

Apr 10 2008 by Katie Norman, South Wales Echo

A “RACIST” e-mail sent from a headteacher’s computer has prompted an investigation into her conduct.

At least one colleague was offended by the message circulated from the e-mail account of Jill Evans, headteacher at Merthyr Tydfil’s Heolgerrig Primary School.

The e-mail had been forwarded to Mrs Evans’ account from a Cardiff University e-mail address.

The message included text joking about a man working in a call centre and a picture of an Asian man powering a laptop with a push bike.

One of the e-mail recipients, a Merthyr woman, said she felt the message content was offensive, particularly because it had apparently been sent by the headteacher of a culturally diverse school. The woman, who did not want to give her name, said: “It is completely inappropriate for anybody to be sending a racist e-mail – you can’t promote racism.”

A spokeswoman for Merthyr council said the local authority was aware of the e-mail.

She said: “Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council can confirm that an investigation is underway and is likely to be complete within the next four weeks, after which a decision will be taken by the governing body.

“It is therefore inappropriate for the council to comment further until the full and thorough internal investigation is concluded.”

A representative of NASUWT, the union acting on behalf of Mrs Evans, has declined to comment in line with investigation procedures.

Mrs Evans was contacted by reporters but was also unable to comment under the terms of the investigation.

sian.watts@mediawales.co.uk