Published: Friday, 5th June, 2009 12:33pm

Head pulled amid concerns

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A TWEEDDALE headteacher has been sensationally pulled from his post by education bosses - and they are trying to cover it up.

Chris McKeesick has been handed a new office role as attempts are made to find his replacement at St Ronan"s Primary in Innerleithen.

Yvonne McCracken, head of schools, sent a letter to all parents on Tuesday stating that the teacher was being drafted to Galashiels to help develop the new Curriculum for Excellence throughout June.

Her letter states: 'I apologise for the short notice but wished to let you know that, after a series of discussions with Mr McKeesick over the past few weeks, I have asked him to come into council headquarters for the month of June to undertake an urgent management task for us.'

But the Peeblesshire News has been told that the development came after months of unrest at the school.

And that Mr McKeesick, who took over at the Innerleithen school from Alastair Campbell almost three years ago, will be replaced over the summer.

One school insider told us: 'This has been coming for some time and there"s no way he"ll be back.

'Several teachers had voiced their concerns over his leadership and he was struggling to cope with everything. Being headteacher is a stressful job.'

Deputy heads Amanda Findlay and Jan Lister will stand in for the head until the summer break.

And it is expected that the post will be advertised in July or August.

One education source said: 'Chris has been under a lot of stress. His health was beginning to suffer and this was the right thing to do.'

A council spokeswoman initially told us that Mr McKeesick would be back in his St Ronan"s seat following the holidays.

But an official statement we requested only said: 'Chris McKeesick is currently on secondment, working on a Curriculum for Excellence project at Langlee, Galashiels.

'He will be working on this until the end of the current school session.'