A parent, whom the Otago Daily Times has decided not to name to protect the identity of several pupils, believed parents of at least 30 pupils were either pulling their children from Carisbrook and transferring them to other schools, or were on waiting lists for a transfer to another school.
He said the reaction was due to the personal experiences of their children and/or the lack of transparency around the recent introduction of a limited statutory manager (LSM).
"A lot of parents of children are disappointed at recent actions taken by either the deputy principal Katrina Munro and or the principal Ben Sincock when it comes to the handling of bullying incidents at the school.
"All you hear is, 'Yes we will handle it,' and it keeps being brushed under the carpet.''
He said he had personal experience of the situation.
"My daughter has special needs and came home emotionally distraught after being bullied.
"So I went into the office, informed the principal of the situation and he promised extra support at school for my daughter's needs to begin at the start of this term.
"We're now three weeks left in the term and nothing has happened.''
He too planned to remove his children from the school.
Concerns have also been raised about staff taking senior pupils on annual cultural trips to Singapore.
Board chairwoman Emily Scott said it was one of the financial issues being looked at by the LSM.
"Our processes over international travel for staff in relation to this trip did not meet ministry guidelines, and the LSM will be working with us to improve those processes.''
She said the appointment of an LSM sounded "alarming'', but she wanted to reassure parents the board was taking action.
"We are working really hard to examine our systems and bring them into line with best practice.
"Most of all, we want our staff and students to be able to continue with their teaching and learning without the stress and distraction that media attention creates.
"It takes courage to ask for help and we have done this in spite of the backlash we knew it might cause.
"We are not hiding. We are being as transparent as we can be about this decision and will keep up our communication with our school community as we have more information to share.''
Ministry of Education sector enablement and support deputy secretary Katrina Casey said LSM Mike Rondel was officially introduced to the school board last night.
He would now begin the process of fully understanding the issues and determining what actions are required to address them.
"This normally takes about a month. The concerns raised here will be part of this process.''
She said further information would be provided to parents today.
