A spokesperson for the board said that allegations had been made relating to the parental vote on the proposed transformation to controlled integrated status.

Stating that the board wished to “put on public record” the reality of the voting procedure as opposed to the fantasy, he said: “The postal ballot of the school’s parents is being conducted by Electoral Reform Services (ERS) in London using the names and addresses of individual parents which have been supplied by the school. The information held by the school was updated through a process which began in January of this year involving the distribution of a form to 70 per cent of parents who attended parental consultation meetings at the school. Those parents not in attendance had the form posted out to them and those who did not return them were then telephoned. At the end of this process there were just three pupils for whom the updated information could not be obtained.”

The spokesperson said the names and addresses were checked, double checked and then checked again by both the school and ERS to ensure accuracy and to avoid duplication.

“The ballot packs were sent out on April 25 from London and it has since transpired that one parent had moved house without informing the school of the change and therefore did not receive the pack. No other parent has informed the school that they did not receive the pack,” the spokesperson said.

He added: “A total of 915 parents are eligible to vote and each was sent an individual voting paper. In households with two parents, clearly this means that two packs would have been received.

“The school has taken every opportunity in recent weeks to encourage all parents to exercise their vote and has also written to parents to remind them to participate.

“A separate communication from the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education was included in the ballot pack. This spells out what the transformation process would mean for a school and contains only factual information for parents.”

Stating that while the North Eastern Education and Library Board has had “no direct role in the process”, he said the board was “nevertheless supportive” of the Board of Governors and the school in their endeavours to ensure that the procedures are all carried out in accordance with the legislation and departmental guidance.

“The Board plays an assisting and enabling role,” he said.

He added: “The false allegations which have been made are a help to no one and only serve to cloud the issue for parents. The question parents are being asked to vote on is a simple one. Do they support the school’s transformation to a controlled integrated school or not? All other matters are extraneous to this central issue. The most important thing is that parents, all parents, make their views known.”