A special needs teacher has been banned from her school by Barnet Council after returning from SARS-affected Toronto despite her children being told they must attend lessons.

Rachel Lewis and her partner Felix Gill, of Corringham Road, Golders Green, returned from Canada on Sunday morning (April 27), after taking their two children, aged ten and seven, to see Mr Gill's father. The superbug SARS has so far claimed 21 lives in Toronto, although the city has now been given the all clear for visits by the World Health Organisation.

Under Barnet Council policy, Rachel was told she should not return to the school where she works as a special needs co-ordinator until next Wednesday, when the ten-day SARS incubation period will be up. Neither Rachel, nor the council were willing to say which school she works at.

The move contradicts the guidelines of Barnet Primary Care Trust and the Department of Health, which recommend that people returning from SARS-affected areas should carry on their lives as normal if they show no symptoms of the virus.

Ms Lewis, 35, said: "My school is strapped for cash and we are having to cut back on staff next year. They can't afford to be paying me to take leave. It just demonstrates ignorance about the virus."

The council said Rachel's children should go to school as normal, citing guidelines from the Department for Education, the Public Health Laboratory and the Health and Safety Executive, which say children are less susceptible to the virus than adults.

But Ms Lewis said the policy was inconsistent and had led to her being shunned by other parents and neighbours.

"If it's so difficult for children to catch it, why are we teachers then stopped from going into school?

"I went to pick up my kids from school and people didn't want to speak to me.

"Luckily, my kids are level-headed some of the other children have teased them about it. Just a little bit of ignorance can cause a lot of damage," she said.

April 30, 2003 18:30