Khaberni - Hertfordshire Police announced the payment of compensation amounting to 20,000 British pounds to parents Maxi Allen and Rosalind Levin, after their arrest in January (January) 2024, due to their criticism of hiring procedures at their daughter's school via a private parents group on WhatsApp, before the police confirmed that there were no charges against them after five weeks of investigation.
The arrest came after some group messages were screenshotted and shared with the school and on social media, prompting the school administration to see that the couple was maligning school affairs, and they filed a complaint with the police.
The origin of the crisis dates back to November (November) 2023, when the girl's father questioned why an open recruitment process was not held for the position of head of "Cauli Hill Elementary School," after the previous principal announced his retirement six months earlier, according to "The Guardian".
Despite his attempts to obtain an official clarification from the school administration, he received no clear response, prompting him to raise the issue on social media, with participation from her mother who joined the discussion.
The school administration considered that some of the posts contained inflammatory phrases and issued a warning to parents to avoid stances that could lead to disturbances within the school community.
As a result, the parents were banned from entering the school, depriving them of participating in a parent-teacher meeting and from continuing to follow their daughter during the school Christmas celebrations.
After the ban decision, the parents continued to communicate with the school administration regarding their daughter's health needs, as she suffers from epilepsy and is registered among those with special needs, but tensions later escalated when the family received an official warning from the police prohibiting them from direct communication with the school, and it was suggested that the child be transferred from the school, which happened in January (January), a week before the parents' arrest.
On January 29, the parents were arrested on charges of harassment and posting malicious messages, based on a report filed by the school administration, and the arrest occurred in front of their youngest daughter, aged three years, who was terrified during her parents' arrest.
After an investigation that lasted five weeks, the police announced the closure of the case without any charges being filed, explaining that the evidence was not sufficient to prove any legal violations, and subsequently acknowledged the payment of compensation to them.
