Elite girls school principal accused of million-dollar cash freeze

The principal of a church-run Brisbane school has been accused of a million-dollar cash freeze on funds raised by the parents and friends association.

Somerville House All Girls School in Brisbane. Picture: Supplied

The principal of an elite church-run school has been accused of a million-dollar cash freeze after sensationally shutting down the parents and friends association and allegedly denying it access to bank funds.

In a highly unprecedented move, Kim Kiepe, head of Somerville House, stood down the P&F management committee in November and angry members say they have been denied access to $1.12m in tax-free cash they have raised as volunteers.

Mrs Kiepe wrote to the P&F this week informing it the school’s governing body, the Presbyterian and Methodist Schools’ Association, had authorised her to stop the P&F running the tuckshop, uniform shop and bookshop.

These are the three major businesses operated by the P&F and, without them, a member has said it will “go bust” and fees would need to increase to cover the shortfall of P&F donations.

Parents have accused Mrs Kiepe and the PMSA of “secretive, cloak and dagger rubbish” that ultimately disadvantages students.

P and F ‘frozen out’

In a long-running feud, the P&F management committee has engaged lawyers to demand answers from Mrs Kiepe and the PMSA after “a fundamental breakdown in the relationship” with both.

Several P&F members who are signatories on the bank account say Westpac staff have told them they’ve been “frozen out” and to “take it up with Kim Kiepe”.

They have launched a formal complaint with Westpac, and a customer manager confirmed the matter was under investigation.

“Something funny is going on and lots of parents are saying it looks like a money grab,” said one senior P&F member, who declined to be named, fearing backlash against their children.

“With the P&F disbanded, parents lose any oversight on how the money they’ve raised is allocated.

“The real sufferers here are the girls, and that’s really pissed us off – how do you run co-curricular activities like rowing, music and debating without a P&F?”

The member said volunteer parents from the 26 support groups for various activities needed to know they would be reimbursed by the P&F for expenses such as sausage sizzles, rowing gear and musical equipment.

Hidden agenda

The Courier-Mail understands the issue came to a head when a uniform shop staffer, employed by the school, lodged a complaint against the P&F with Mrs Kiepe on November 17, 2020.

Somerville House All Girls School Principal Kim Kiepe. Picture: Supplied

The complaint was not of a financial nature and concerned one P&F member, yet two days later the P&F management committee was ordered by Mrs Kiepe to stand down and not discuss the investigation with anyone.

“We’ve been kept in the dark ever since, and proper procedures have not been followed,” said another member. “Why would the principal stand down the whole committee, past and former, when the investigation had not even begun? The whole thing has been very badly mishandled and is a gross overreaction.”

The staffer withdrew her complaint on March 12, and until that point the independent investigation by Emverio Workplace Investigations was still under way.

“There is an official process to follow, and Kim Kiepe didn’t; she axed us before there were any findings and used the complaint as a ‘front’ to get rid of the P&F,” another member said. “What’s the hidden agenda?”

Stand-down lifted

Responding to the allegations, Mrs Kiepe said she had not withdrawn any funds from the P&F bank account.

Asked if she had directed Westpac to disregard instructions by P&F members, Mrs Kiepe said she had not and that the account was under the control of the committee.

Mrs Kiepe, an ex-officio member of the P&F as principal, confirmed the committee was stood down following a complaint but “the stand-down has now been lifted”.

“Depending on the nature of the complaint, the school’s position is that an employee or volunteer may be directed to leave the workplace and not perform their usual duties while the matter is being investigated,” she said.

Mrs Kiepe said she closed the investigation when the complaint was withdrawn.

She said members were directed not to discuss the matter as “all investigations involving formal complaints are completely confidential”.

A member told The Courier-Mail the response as “disingenuous and false”.

“For four months we have been bullied by the principal and shut down and shut out,” they said. “We don’t know where we stand, and we don’t trust the principal or the PMSA. To imply everything is back to normal is false. It’s not and never will be. Importantly, the mistrust around governance and finance has made the ongoing operations of this committee, or any committee, a highly risky prospect. The principal has fundamentally broken that trust relationship between the parent community and the school.”