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# Report claims suspended former Lichfield teacher picked up £45,000 pay-off
- URL: https://lichfieldlive.co.uk/report-claims-suspended-former-lichfield-teacher-picked-up-45000-pay-off/
- Published: 2009-07-20T20:33:06.000Z
- Updated: 2009-07-20T20:33:06.000Z
- Author: Lichfield Live
- Tags: Education, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-07-22 21:52

![Barrie Cooper](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e3/90/e390c3da-0866-4d2a-8ffe-ca4999d7ce1c/content/images/lichfieldlive-co-uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/barriecooper.jpg "barriecooper")

Barrie Cooper

A former Lichfield head teacher who was suspended from his new post has been given £45,000 as part of an agreement which will see him leave his current job, according to reports.

Ex-Nether Stowe High School principal Barrie Cooper was suspended by governors at West Lakes Academy in Cumbria after complaints by members of staff.

And despite an inquiry by the school’s management team indicating Mr Cooper had given them “grounds for dismissal”, [The Times Educational Supplement says](http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6017941&navcode=94&ref=lichfieldlive.co.uk) a deal has now reportedly been struck which will see him walk away with half-a-year’s salary.

A spokesperson for the Academy told TES:

> “There were grounds for dismissal, but in the best interests of the Academy and the individual we reached a compromise agreement. Managing change is a difficult process. To have a significant number of staff alienated is not the way to bring about the change we wanted.”