Forty-year-old Delia School of Canada, owned by New World Development Holdings, fired deputy principal Vaughan Blaney - after more than 18 years of service - at its Taikoo Shing campus and his brother, assistant principal John Blaney, at its Kowloon Tong campus last Friday with immediate effect.

According to principal Patrick Lee, the sackings were ordered by the school's five-member board of directors, which includes three top NWD officials, including NWD chairman Henry Cheng.

The school says it is accredited by the education departments of Hong Kong, Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island and has 900 students from 31 countries attending primary through secondary classes.

After concerned students and their parents planned a protest against the dismissals for today, school administrators called all teaching staff Tuesday night and warned them that they might lose their jobs if they get involved in the protest.

They were also told to stop any possible student actions.

According to a source close to the school, administrators have also warned that any student who takes part in the protest will be expelled. Parents have begun organizing against the firings, sending angry e-mails to one another and meeting in homes to plan strategy.

An anonymous letter was sent to parents Monday night saying, ``We are extremely disappointed to note that Mr Vaughan Blaney, Mr John Blaney ... have had their services summarily terminated at DSC on Friday. We as parents of students studying at DSC strongly protest against this unjust action by the DSC business department.''

The letter suggested that more trouble was on the way for the school after parents were told of a disturbing ``turn of events.'' Parents who met Vaughan Blaney, according to the letter, came away ``even more disturbed.'' ``One of the main reasons for DSC's success is the sincere and perseverant leadership of the Blaneys for over 18 years... We will be requesting the management to reinstate Mr Vaughan Blaney and his colleagues with immediate effect. We request you as parents to agree to meet the school management on Wednesday [today] to take up the matter further.''

When contacted by The Standard Tuesday night, school principal Lee denied there was any mismanagement at the schools.

He said the dismissals were an ``administrative reorganization'' by the board of directors.

Lee admitted that it was a ``sudden change,'' but denied anything sinister.

``This is the decision of the board of directors and I don't know the reasons why,'' he said, adding that this was the first time he had witnessed such dismissals in his nearly 10 years at the school.

Lee insisted it is not unusual for a private corporation to take such action.

According to Lee, the government's Education and Manpower Bureau had called the school to inquire about the developments.

Bob Haines, the acting deputy principal of the Taikoo Shing campus, refused to comment on the sackings.

Although Lee downplayed the dismissals, a source said it involved a ``complicated story'' and that further revelations could be expected. chester.yung@singtaonewscorp.com