Angry staff and parents questioned whether Oldfield School head teacher Kim Sparling can remain in her job during a heated public meeting last night.
More than 100 people turned out to the event at All Saints Centre, in Weston, to have the first opportunity to quiz the new chair of governors Stuart Weatherall about what he is going to do to restore the faith and trust in the academy.
It follows a turbulent few weeks for the school, which is at the centre of a Department for Education investigation into concerns raised by Ofsted.
One of the first questions from the audience was about the future of head teacher Kim Sparling, who is understood to have not been in school for the past week.
When asked if "her position had become untenable", Mr Weatherall said he could not comment on any confidential, personal matters and that him saying anything might limit his ability to take action in the future.
This morning in an interview live on BBC Radio Bristol, Mr Weatherall was asked who was currently running the school, but declined to comment.
He said the "senior leadership team" was in charge, but would not be drawn on who exactly this was and whether Mrs Sparling was in school at the moment, saying he had been given legal advice not to talk about such matters.
A number of people at last night's meeting took the opportunity to highlight their alleged treatment by Mrs Sparling, saying they had been bullied by her and that she had forced people out of teaching.
One said that they had been told by the National Union of Teachers that they discouraged members from applying for jobs at Oldfield because of Mrs Sparling.
Former parent governor Guy Dawe, who is waiting to be reinstated to the board after a glitch with his CRB form meant he was asked to stand down earlier this month, tried to reassure parents and staff that the governors were doing everything they could to address concerns.
He said they had been "lied to on an industrial scale", with the vast majority of governors having absolutely no idea of the level of complaints and grievances.
This prompted a number of people to question how things can change going forward if the board of governors remains largely unchanged and former chair Julie Cope remains on the board as vice-chair.
However, Mr Weatherall and other governors said they were now doing all they could to address the issues which had come to light.
NUT B&NES secretary Dave Biddlestone and Bath MP Don Foster, who was not at the meeting but submitted a statement, have pledged their support for the governors and said they had faith they were working hard to make some real differences.
This was echoed by a current member of staff and meeting organiser Oldfield parent James Couchman, who asked the audience to end the evening by giving the entire board a round of applause for the work they are now doing.
At the end of the two-hour meeting people who attended were invited to submit their suggestions for action points to resolve issues at the school.
