The former chaplain of Kingspark School has praised the “love and self-sacrifice” of staff.
The Rev Stephen Matthews, who now lives in Stornoway, was chaplain for more than 20 years at the school, which is facing allegations from a group of parents that their disabled children were physically abused.
He admitted he had no way of knowing if the claims were true, nor did he wish to add to the distress of the families, but said he had difficulty in relating the allegations to his own experience.
“I have nothing but praise and admiration for the staff and for the dedication and professionalism they bring to their day-to-day duties,” he said.
“Yes of course there are difficulties in a school such as Kingspark, which has such a wide range of extremely needy pupils and young people, and no one would seek to minimise these challenges or deny that the staff would be immune to such difficulties.
“I have seen staff receiving kicks and blows to various parts of their bodies but always the response by individual staff members has in my experience been one of compassion and kindness, and with a patience and an understanding of the difficulties the child faced in his or her young life,” Mr Matthews said.
He added: “If there has been abuse then I, like everyone else, will certainly be shocked, but perhaps my overall feeling would be one of sadness because someone precious in God’s sight has been betrayed.”
Some of Kingspark’s pupils come from Angus and Councillor Margaret Thomson, who represents Monifieth and Sidlaw, said: “I have been approached by one of the families and as a result I sought some reassurance from our director of people by asking her several questions to find out what our position was.
“Myself and councillor Craig Fotheringham intend to try and meet the families involved who live in our ward to discuss their concerns,” she added.