THREE trustees of Derby's failing Muslim free school Al-Madinah have told the Government today they are resigning.
Trustees Shazia Parveen, Shahban Rehmat and Ziad Amjad had come under increasing pressure in recent weeks to quit their roles at Al-Madinah School.
Their resignation paves the way for a sponsor to be brought in to run the school and Schools Minister Lord Nash has today asked the Greenwood Dale Foundation Trust to explore the possibility of stepping in.
The resignations are unlikely to come into effect until the end of January, with the likelihood that if Greenwood decides to go ahead, it would do so from February 1.
A letter from Lord Nash was delivered to the school today to reinforce his decision to keep the school open if a suitable sponsor would take it on.
In it he writes: "I am not satisfied that you have demonstrated a strong basis for the transformation required at the school.
"I cannot tolerate any child experiencing a poor quality of education in any state-funded school.
"I have decided the needs of the pupils at Al-Madinah school would be best served by bringing in a more experienced trust with the skills and capability required to deliver the improvements needed at the school.
"To that end, I have asked Barry Day, chief executive of Greenwood Dale Foundation Trust, to start work with you. You and your fellow trustees have agreed to resign in due course."
Without the trio's resignation the possibility of it staying open was dead, as Lord Nash would have withdrawn its public funding and it would have been forced to close, although this could have taken up to a year.
The 412-pupil school, with sites in Nelson Street and Friar Gate, has been floundering since a team from Ofsted – Office for Standards in Education –delivered a damning report in October.
Mr Day, who met the Al-Madinah trustees this week, said: "This is all about the safety and quality of education of pupils in the school.
"We want to work closely with the school community to determine and action plan to deliver the improvements required by Ofsted and Lord Nash."
One of the trustees, Shazia Parveen, had already indicated her willingness to step down as chair of governors at some point in the future.
But late last night, confusion was caused after a statement appeared on the school's website indicating that the governors would not be resigning.
The statement said: "Just to re-assure parents regarding the rumours circulating today about governors resigning.
"This is not the case and we would urge parents to talk to the PTA and the governors if they are concerned.
"We are working with the DfE to ensure that our pupils' future and the future of our school is secure. We will update parents when we have any further information."
Yesterday, Mrs Parveen wrote to staff to say trustees were "working together to secure the long-term future of the school".
At the same time, the head teacher, Dr Stuart Wilson, wrote to parents to reassure them the school was doing everything possible to "maximise the learning that takes place".
But he added: "It has not been possible for me to meet with the trust or governors for a week now."
Dr Wilson's letter also said: "The only information parents are receiving is through the local and national press. Parents, quite rightly, desperately want to know what is going on."
Foundation trust Greenwood Dale already has had control over former Sinfin Community School, now renamed the City of Derby Academy, since May.
The foundation, which is based in Nottingham, runs more than 20 academies in the East Midlands, headed up by chief executive Barry Day.
Lord Nash has been under pressure to act to resolve the Al-Madinah School's situation since rumours of financial mismanagement, rules to make female non-Muslim teachers wear Islamic dress - exclusively revealed by the Derby Telegraph - and an Ofsted report which called the school "dysfunctional" were revealed.
He gave the school until November 1 to devise an action plan for improvement in all areas but it is understood the paperwork was "inadequate".
A showdown between Department for Education officials and the trustees took place last Tuesday, when it was believed they were given a final ultimatum to quit or face closure.
The DfE has also published two reports into financial investigations at the school.
They conclude that there were "many areas of weakness within its systems and controls" and that the trustees had "failed to maintain proper accounting records", approved a budget for the current academic year or "prepared management accounts since March 2013".
