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New head at college hit by rift

Paul Britton
4/ 7/2008

A NEW principle has been named at a college at the centre of a bitter row.

David Frost will take over from Mike O'Hare at Holy Cross College, Bury.

Mr O'Hare, head at the Catholic college for 15 years, announced his retirement after a bitter dispute with chairman of governors Anne Fox.

Mr O'Hare, 63, quit after governors claimed he breached confidentiality rules by discussing with his management team his objection to a candidate for the job of deputy principal.

He was disciplined with a written warning for alleged misconduct, then resigned after losing an appeal.

The news sparked an angry backlash from teachers and students. Staff supported a vote of no confidence in the college's board of governors and the matter is in the hands of teachers' unions.

Mr O'Hare's written warning has been withdrawn.

Mr Frost is acting principal at St. David's Catholic Sixth Form College, in Cardiff.

He has been there for 16 years and will take over at Holy Cross next month.

A spokesman said: "David is delighted to have been appointed principal and is looking forward to building on the outstanding work of Mike O'Hare and the whole Holy Cross team over many years."

Mr Frost, a father of one, studied biology at Durham.

He was sent by the Church of England to study theology at Oxford and was later ordained, serving at three parishes in the North East.

He joined the Catholic Church in 1992 then taught religion at the Cardiff college. He also joined its chaplaincy team.

Mr O'Hare has overseen massive expansion at the Bury college.

For three years, it has been in the top ten nationally for A-level results and was recently ranked second best in Britain.