School Boycott over Hepatitis

15 August 1967 The Canberra Times 

Teachers at Tumut's infants and primary schools backed last night a parents' boycott of the schools.

About 90 children from both schools and four teachers from the infants' school have contracted the disease. Only 190 of the total of 400 pupils attended classes yesterday.  

At a meeting last night of 150 parents at All Saints' Anglican Church, Tumut, the president of the Tumut Teachers Federation, Mr E. Evans, said an executive meeting of the NSW Teachers Federation in Sydney would discuss the boycott tonight.

Mr Evans said teachers at Tumut were wholeheartedly behind the boycott.

The Reverend S. Willey said last night that the Mini- ster for Education, Mr Cutler, would be asked to close the schools for six weeks and to have the toilets rebuilt.

Parents had asked the Director-General of Education to advise the Education Department to close the schools.

A Tumut medical practitioner, Dr W. Castle, told the meeting that an effective way to combat the epidemic would be to keep children from school.

Tumut infants school was refused as this would not prevent the infection spreading.

"We think the other towns have passed their peak but the worst is yet to come in Tumut", he said.

Dr Law said Albury did not have a hepatitis epidemic.

A statement he had made discussing the Tumut epidemic had been misunderstood.