A parent has taken his concerns about the state of the public school system to the top.

Hav Trott, who last month called for the privatisation of the school system after he and other parents complained about a lack of discipline, competency, and accountability, said he met with Premier Pamela Gordon last Friday.

"I spoke with the Premier and I presented to her a package of documentation, including the eight questions to (Education) Jerome Dill which he has not answered, nor has he formally contacted me,'' Mr. Trott said.

He and his wife, Beverley, said they were forced to send their son overseas in March after realising a lack of discipline at St. George's Secondary School.

And they said they received no inquiries from school officials about their son's whereabouts. But several weeks later the school sent a report card depicting their son as a student in good standing who had not been absent for the term.

The Trotts could not figure out how the school came up with the grades when their son had not taken his English final exam and required tutoring in that subject and several others. They suspected that the school gave their son good reports to pacify them.

And they pointed out that what was happening at St. George's Secondary was taking place at high schools throughout the public system.

Mr. Dill defended both the school and the system, stating that they were not in "a state of crisis''.

But Mr. Trott accused Mr. Dill and the Education Department of minimising the difficulties the public school was facing.

And Mr. Trott challenged Mr. Dill to show he cared by publicly providing information on several issues, including the percentage of school leavers over the past ten years who have obtained a university education; the number of people employed by the Education Department as of December 31 for the last ten years; the student population in each high school and the percentage of white students versus black students; and the names of children of "key personalities'' in the business and political arena in Bermuda who attend public high schools versus those who attend private high schools.

Mr. Trott said the Premier promised to have those issues addressed. He said he hoped to have answers by June.

But Ms Gordon told The Royal Gazette she did not believe a month was enough time to respond to Mr. Trott's questions.

And she called the questions "too general''.

"If he wants a specific response, his questions should be more specific,'' she said.

Regarding Mr. Trott's concern about his son's St. George's Secondary grades, Ms Gordon noted grading standards often differed in Bermuda and elsewhere.