EXPLAINED: How Moreton Bay Colleges scandal unfolded
Since news first broke of a mass exodus of staff at these two elite Brisbane private schools there have been reports of whistleblowers being silenced, enrolments dropping and a stoush over a hefty loan. This is everything we know so far.
Education
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SCHOOLS exist for students. At the risk of stating the obvious, this can get lost amid leadership turmoil.
The prolonged stoushes at Moreton Bay College and Moreton Bay Boys’ College in Manly West, in Brisbane’s east, have not been welcomed by the kids. Not one bit, and who could blame them?
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The only consolation I have for these children is that their schools aren’t the first to be rocked by drama, and they won’t be the last.
Parents and staff are always justified in raising concerns – over governance, resources allocation, the pervading school culture or anything else they believe could disrupt learning – and these should be addressed promptly and decisively.
This appears to not have been the case at the Uniting-Church-affiliated colleges, where concerns were put to the joint board as early as 2017.
In August 2019, the board commissioned an independent probe into executive principal James Sloman over alleged “inappropriate, intimidating and belittling” behaviour.
The investigation wrapped up in January this year but no findings either way have been released publicly.
The board chair John Eisenmenger quit, as did another board member, and Mr Sloman went on extended leave from Term 1 until last Friday when he resigned, amid reports he demanded a multimillion-dollar settlement.
Mr Sloman has denied all allegations against him, and earlier this year lodged his own “stop-bullying” complaint against the colleges with the Fair Work Commission, claiming he’d been victimised.
It’s fair to say it hasn’t been smooth sailing for a very long time.
Dedicated teachers have been doing their best to keep calm and carry on – they know their value in shaping young lives – but many have left and parents say kids have suffered.
And we’re not talking OP scores here – even though both schools performed worse last year than in 2018 – because academics are only part of a well-rounded education.
One mother told me this week: “My daughter has been so upset with how things have been handled, and to see so many staff leaving, the relationships they’ve built up and lost, it’s been devastating.”
Back in March when The Courier-Mailbroke the initial story, another parent said the abrupt exodus of staff meant “little kids are very distressed, and for older students in Year 12 it can’t help but have an impact on their mental health and academic output”.
Then COVID-19 ramped up and made learning even more challenging.
There have been reports of whistleblowers being silenced, staff being hospitalised for stress, enrolments dropping and hefty loans from the larger girls’ college to “prop up” the underperforming boys’ school.
In communications with parents since February, the board, chaired by Samantha O’Brien, has been consistent in its message that it supports the respective heads of both schools, Janet Stewart and Andrew Holmes, who reported to the executive principal.
It has said the schools “remain focused on creating an outstanding student experience”.
This is how it should be, always.
But results demand more than rhetoric.
Students want to wear their uniform with pride, to feel part of something greater than themselves, of a legacy that has delivered some exceptional achievers.
Moreton Bay College alumni include Dame Quentin Bryce, former Governor-General of Australia, who boarded in the 1950s, former TV journalist Annette Allison, who graduated in 1960, and Women’s Rugby World Cup star Shannon Parry, who attended in the 2000s.
The school was founded in 1901 by sisters Alice and Anne Greene.
Its first cohort consisted of six boarders and 20 day scholars.
Today there are 1150 girls, while the affiliated boys’ college that opened in 2003 has 500 students.
These children – and those who will come after them – need to believe that their learning really does come first.
And their fee-paying parents are entitled to see that this happens.
Kylie Lang is Associate Editor of The Courier-Mail
kylie.lang@news.com.au