Hiding in the Clouds! Teachers boycott Wakayama Nanryo High School, directly to the Chancellor!

The homeroom teacher contacted me, but there has been no explanation from Chancellor Ono. I am angry both at the school and at myself for entrusting my child to such a place.

A father who has been sending his child to Wakayama Nanryo High School since April lamented, “I am so angry at the school and at myself for entrusting my child to such a place.

The school has not paid salaries to teachers and staff for the month of April. The school’s administrator, Nanryo Gakuen, has failed to respond to repeated requests for payment from the teachers and staff, leading to an unprecedented boycott of classes by 23 teachers and staff on May 11.

On May 20, the head of the administration, Chancellor Kazutoshi Ono, announced through a proxy lawyer that he had paid the teachers and staff. However, no explanatory meeting for students and their parents has yet been held (as of May 24). The aforementioned father continued, “Nanryo High School focuses on sports.

Nanryo High School focuses on sports and has a dormitory. I decided to enroll in Nanryo High School because it was an environment where I could devote myself to club activities. However, when I visited the dormitory during the Golden Week holidays, I was shocked. The toilets were leaking and there was a huge pile of garbage in the garbage dump. There seemed to be no caretaker, and the place was unsanitary.

On May 9, the gas was turned off for nonpayment of bills. At that time, the teachers drove a microbus to take the dorm residents to a nearby public bathhouse. My son koboed over the phone, ‘I want to transfer to another school. I have heard that several students are already in the process of transferring to other schools, relying on the coaches of their junior high school club activities.”

A male student on his way home shared his concerns with a FRIDAY reporter.

I feel that the teachers are protecting us. But we don’t know what is going on at the school. Anyway, all we can do is to continue …… (school life).”

Chancellor Ono sent a document titled “Notice of Resignation” dated May 18 to parents. He unilaterally notified them that he would not hold an explanatory meeting and that he would hold a meeting of the board of directors on May 23 to announce his resignation from the position of chancellor. However, on the day of the meeting, the board suddenly announced that the meeting would be postponed. According to the lawyer representing him, “No further plans have been decided.

Ono is a very deceitful person,” said the lawyer representing the company. For example, he keeps only the bare minimum of supplies in the dormitory. He even makes the students bring their own toilet paper. This month, the dormitory breakfast on holidays consisted of only one sweet bread. Chancellor Ono rarely comes to school. He also did not attend this year’s entrance ceremony, citing poor health. It is highly questionable whether he has any affection for the students or the school.

He is also said to be having financial troubles with parents. A school official revealed, “He is having financial troubles with his parents.

“Although the school received 20 million yen in government subsidies for tuition, there was no evidence that the school had returned the tuition of students who were eligible for the subsidies, and in April the school was instructed by Wakayama Prefecture. In April, the Wakayama Prefectural Government issued a directive to the school. Where did that money go? …… Speaking of subsidies, Chancellor Ono was also accused by the principal of another high school four years ago of misappropriating approximately 19 million yen provided by the prefecture. At that time, the charges were dropped due to insufficient suspicion, but the allegation of money has always followed him around.”

How does he feel about his responsibility as the head of the operation? We interviewed Chancellor Ono as he emerged from his mansion in Shizuoka Prefecture.

–Friday. Can you tell us about Wakayama Nanryo High School?

Oh, no, no, no, no.

–Can you at least let me give you my business card?

No, no, no. Absolutely not. Ah~~. I can’t do it anymore. Yes.”

He got into his Lexus, a luxury car, in a manner that made fun of the reporter, and then he puffed on a cigarette in the car. After that, he drove away without paying attention to the reporter.

Why did the nonpayment occur? What does he think of his responsibility? Does he have anything to say to the faculty, students, or parents? Are there any concrete measures to prevent a recurrence? When we sent a letter of inquiry to the attorney, we received the following response.

We are currently responding to your questions in due course. Please wait a moment for our response.

Yuka Kofuji, an attorney with the law firm Hibiki, explains the future of the school.

The salary for April has already been paid, and the school has indicated that it will return the subsidies. Therefore, at this point, we do not think there will be a case. The key will be whether or not the victims, the teachers and parents, will file criminal charges. If they do, the police will investigate the flow of funds at the school, and I believe they will discover the reason why the school has so little money that it cannot pay salaries.

The most important thing is to relieve the students’ anxiety as soon as possible. The biggest cause for concern may be the presence of Chancellor Ono – but he is not the only one.

From the June 10, 2022 issue of FRIDAY