Scotch College former deputy principal David Shepherd at centre of Ballarat Clarendon College bullying investigation

Whistleblowers have explosively claimed a former Scotch College leader oversaw a “slimy and creepy” workplace culture at an elite Victorian boarding school.

Scotch College Adelaide. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

The former deputy principal of Adelaide’s exclusive Scotch College is at the centre of a probe into alleged bullying behaviour by senior staff at an elite Victorian boarding school.

David Shepherd was appointed Ballarat Clarendon College principal in 1997 and had previously held a senior leadership position at the SA school according to the Victorian Institute of Teaching.

On receiving a Medal of the Order of Australia in January, Mr Shepherd spoke to News Corp about his time teaching in Adelaide.

Ballarat Clarendon College is under investigation for having a “slimy and creepy” culture with endemic racism, sexism and misogyny.

WorkSafe is investigating a series of explosive claims about bullying from up to 20 staff at the high performing private Victorian school, which they say is having an “enduring and sometimes devastating” effect on staff.

Ballarat Clarendon College principal David Shepherd, who will depart the school at the end of 2023.

An anonymous letter sent to the school’s board on August 16 said the school’s culture was creating “genuine misery” and presents “a serious, ongoing risk to the wellbeing of both staff and students”.

Among many claims, published by the Herald Sun the whistleblower letter alleges a young teacher was advised by a senior staffer to have an abortion because she was too young to have a baby.

The letter also alleged that a female job applicant for the school was rejected with the phrase: “Nope, got a womb”.

The school has appointed an independent investigator to probe several of the allegations and has launched an internal policy and procedure review.

News Corp is not suggesting any of the allegations against senior staff are true, only that they have been made and are being investigated.

The document claimed there was “embedded misogyny among certain senior male managers”.

One former staff member who was quoted described the culture as “slimy and creepy and full of misogynist microaggressions”.

Staff were told to provide death certificates if they wanted to attend funerals, videoed while teaching and routinely humiliated, the letter alleges.

The school, which ranked among the state’s top four performers in VCE last year, allegedly had ambulances called at least seven times for staff having panic attacks and had an “epidemic of antidepressant” use among staff.

In other claims, a male staffer allegedly made fun of Ramadan as “this bloody ramadamalamam shit” and another would massage the shoulders of female staff and make references to younger colleagues “howling at the moon” during their periods.

Two weeks after the letter was sent to the board, the retirement of Mr Shepherd at the end of next year was announced, and he was hailed by school board chair Mark Patterson as an “outstanding leader”.

In a statement issued to the News Corp, Mr Patterson confirmed the anonymous letter but said the allegations “were largely high-level and generally did not provide the level of detail necessary to allow a proper investigation by the college”.

Ballarat Clarendon College principal David Shepherd in 1998 with Colin Price.

Further detail was requested but was not forthcoming, he said.

Mr Patterson said there was “no connection between this matter and the recent announcement that current principal Mr David Shepherd will retire at the end of 2023”.

Mr Shepherd sits on the college’s board but said he had not seen the letter himself and denied having read the contents of the eight-page document.

“The only comment I have got to make is always the safety, care and health of all in our community, whether they be students, whether they be staff or whether they be parents, or other members of the community, that’s always our number one priority,” he said.

“So without knowing anything about the statements in the letter, I can’t really make any more comment than that,” he said.

In a letter to the school community this week marking his resignation, Mr Shepherd said he was “overwhelmed by the kind messages” and did work that had a “moral purpose”.

David Brear, deputy general secretary of the Independent Education Union, said he heard reports of staff being physically sick before going to class, fainting in class due to stress and facing unreasonable opposition to accessing sick leave.

“Members tell us the workload is crippling,” he said.

Mr Shepherd, who has led the school for 27 years, is referred to in the whistleblower letter as overseeing a work culture of “genuine misery”.

Whistleblowers also alleged Mr Shepherd also reprimanded staff for voting a certain way on an enterprise bargaining agreement.

“HR was conducted by the principal for much of 2021,” the document said, “meaning the function was being run by one of the people most likely to be complained about – an alarming conflict of interest.”

Whistleblowers claimed there was an “epidemic of antidepressants” among staff, who were harassed into continuing work even when taking unavoidable time off.

In a case involving a student who was suspected of having abusive parents, it is claimed one manager said: “The best place for her is here.

“Besides, she brings in full fees for the boarding school. Very lucrative.”

Whistleblowers go on to allege that more than 20 staff members were stood down at the beginning of the pandemic.

They said there was “abysmally low staff morale”.

The document also said one senior manager “openly described his employment method as ‘Get ‘em young, and squeeze them for all they’ve got.’”

The letter notes that in a “parallel universe” the school’s annual performance report notes that “staff satisfaction with goal alignment was at the 85th percentile”.

A WorkSafe spokeswoman said the agency was “making inquiries”.

The school, which posted a $7.6m surplus in 2021, has 1710 students, including international students and locals from Victoria, NSW and South Australia. It has $94m in total assets.