Brisbane Boys’ College parents, staff hit out at ‘obscene’ spend on rugby scholarships

Parents of students at Brisbane Boys’ College are forking out $4 million to stack the school with rugby stars in an old boys bid for glory.

Parents are unknowingly paying $4 million for an “obscene” number of rugby scholarships at Brisbane Boys’ College, amid claims the elite school’s governing body is using money that should be spent on teaching and facilities to turn BBC into a rugby academy.

Furious staff and other insiders also have accused the Presbyterian and Methodist Schools’ Association of using parents’ fees to fund statewide rugby recruitment “junkets” as it bows to pressure from powerful old boys to stack the college with star athletes.

An investigation by The Courier-Mail can reveal about 400 out of 1100 students in the senior school are on scholarships, including almost half the Year 12 cohort, mostly for rugby.

Annual tuition fees at Brisbane Boys College are close to $25,000 a year. Picture: Tara Croser.

Overall, the percentage of students receiving handouts at the Prep to Year 12 Toowong college is around 20 per cent, compared with up to 9 per cent at “like” schools across Australia.

BBC gives out $6 million in full and partial scholarships annually (as distinct from bursaries which assist disadvantaged students), with $2 million of this government-funded.

“That leaves a $4 million gap parents have to pay through their school fees,” a source said.

“It is an unsustainable business model and totally unfair.”

Another sources said: “The PMSA is ultimately hitting up parents for the massive difference. The money should be spent on teaching and facilities.”

Annual tuition fees at BBC are $24,724, among the highest in the state, with boarding house fees an additional $27,268.

In 2020, for the first time in its 119-year history, BBC won the coveted GPS Rugby Premiership (it shared the premiership once, in 1954), but sources say it came at a cost of well over $1 million via scholarships and specialist coaches.

“The vast majority of the First XV and Second XV last year were on scholarships,” an insider said.

“They get treated like superstars. Meanwhile, the kids who’ve been at the school for years don’t get a look-in.”

Three years ago, as part of its renewed governance approach following a series of scandals, the PMSA, which also runs Somerville House, Clayfield College and Sunshine Coast Grammar, told the BBC school council to reduce its number of scholarships (then well over 20 per cent) to single digits.

Screengrab image taken from Brisbane Boys College Rugby Union team winning the GPS title for 2020 Picture Facebook

Sources said the percentage did start to come down from 2018 onwards, but was now surging towards its previous high.

“When the PMSA told BBC to cut back the obscenely unheard of number of scholarships, a few influential old boys started jumping up and down because they didn’t want to go back to the dark old days when BBC didn’t win anything,” an insider said.

Late last year parents and staff were made aware the BBC council had decided to offer 50 additional scholarships, approved by the PMSA in the school budget.

A concerned teacher said turning BBC into a “rugby academy” was not supported by staff who were committed to providing a “well-rounded education, with all the academic, co-curricular, pastoral and spiritual elements in place”.

An angry parent and “disgruntled old boy in the know” said the 50 extra scholarships would result in “even more funds being taken away from the core business of educating students”.

“We are aware that the PMSA has been recruiting rugby players from across the state for BBC. Who pays for those trips? I bet it is parents but this is not what we pay fees for,” he said.

According to the PMSA’s governance report, its four schools pay an annual sum to cover PMSA corporate office staff salaries and other association costs.

The Courier-Mail understands BBC’s contribution is around $1 million.

In May 2019, the PMSA appointed Richard Paterson, previously BBC’s director of performance for GPS sports, to the new position of PMSA head of strategy.

The PMSA’s outgoing chair Morgan Parker and incoming chair Peter Barker are both BBC old boys.

The Courier-Mail asked the PMSA to confirm the number of scholarships offered, their total dollar value, and how they and the BBC rugby program were funded.

It also asked why BBC was allowed to offer 50 additional scholarships this year following the PMSA directive to reduce scholarships.

A PMSA spokesman replied: “The BBC scholarship and bursary program, based on student merit and financial need, has a proud tradition of creating opportunities for children from across Australia and further afield to benefit from a BBC education.

“Under the program, student recipients are provided with opportunities to immerse themselves in all aspects of college life, and in turn add vibrancy to the school community.

“As with all independent and catholic schools, the program operates within standard sector wide parameters, and prioritises the confidentiality of commercial relationships between schools and families.”

Insiders say the school’s star rugby players get treated like superstars. File picture.

Other schools in the GPS competition – St Joseph’s College Gregory Terrace, Anglican Church Grammar School, Brisbane Grammar School, St Joseph’s Nudgee College, The Southport School, Toowoomba Grammar School and Ipswich Grammar School – were contacted about their scholarship percentages. Most declined to comment.

Michael Carroll, principal of Terrace, said the school offered “merit entry” rather than scholarships.

“The sport/cultural merit entry program may involve tuition fee relief, subject to financial need, or accelerated enrolment entry only (no fee relief),” Dr Carroll said.

“We currently only have approximately 1 per cent of students who have a place at the college through academic or sport/cultural merit entry processes.”

BBC has been at the centre of several scandals this year, including the dramatic exit of key staff, claims the recruitment process for headmaster following the February resignation of Paul Brown was a “farce”, and the departure of Bridget Cullen, acting BBC school council chair and PMSA board member after a social media rant in which she was accused of stereotyping poor people.

Last year the parents of four Year 9 boys expelled over an alleged gang-bashing incident sued the headmaster and the college for negligence, and the boys were later reinstated by the PMSA and the case settled.

Respected company director Mark Gray quit as BBC school council chair in August, stating he was “concerned about the strategic direction the PMSA is pursuing, which I believe is not in the best interests of the college”.

Mr Gray said since 2018, the PMSA corporate office functions had expanded significantly and they had “already been an unreasonable increase in the school contribution in 2020 to fund the PMSA corporate office.”

In 2017, the PMSA was embroiled in an alleged data breach, a secret merger report, financial mismanagement, and trips to a nude Korean bath house.

Beyond PMSA, a breakaway group of concerned parents from the four schools, campaigned to get the PMSA out of running the schools. The group still exists but has been noticeably quiet about the recent scandals.