School threaten to ban dead girl from end of year prom

The parents of a girl who died suddenly two months ago have been sent a letter from her school demanding she improves her attendance. Signed by the deputy headmaster, the letter threatened to ban Megan Gillan from the end of year prom.

Her parents Mark and Margaret said they were 'floored' by the letter from Macclesfield High. Megan, 15, was found dead in her bedroom on January 19 at the family home at Flying Fields Drive, in the town. The letter - dated March 16 - said 'students must have at least 92 per cent attendance and Megan's is currently 60.4pc'.



Mrs Gillan said: "I screamed when I first saw it. If they want her to attend that much I'll take Megan's remains. It's disgusting. Megan doesn't go to that school anymore. She's been dead for two months now so it's not surprising her attendance is low. I was pulling myself together to go back to work, but receiving the letter has just floored me. Megan would have loved going to the prom. She planned to go with a group of friends, she was really looking forward to it.”

The letter carried the signature of deputy head G White. Headteacher Ged Ward has now apologised for the 'software error'. Mr Ward said: “Clearly that letter should not have gone out. I want to make my apology to Megan’s parents and can only apologise for the distress that it has caused. The letter was sent out to all year 11 parents regarding the school prom. We didn’t think to check it. With hindsight we would have checked all 150 of them. The problem is a software problem.” But the family say they could never forgive the mistake.