Kylie Lang: St Paul’s School blow-up proves parents deserve better than to be blindsided by school politics

It’s alarming, if not destructive, for parents to be blindsided by decisions that cut to the core of educational outcomes for their kids. Case in point – St Paul’s School, writes Kylie Lang.

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Education of children works best with strong parental involvement. That’s not only my personal opinion – it’s backed up by numerous global studies and regularly endorsed on school websites, in parent-teacher interviews and at speech nights.

Keen participation by mum or dad enhances results that go well beyond academic – it can encourage a lifetime of learning that helps people adapt to that hungry beast called change.

So it strikes me as alarming – if not downright destructive – for parents to be blindsided by decisions that cut to the core of educational outcomes for their kids. A dramatic case in point this week is the blow-up at St Paul’s School in Brisbane’s north.

Students protest the decision to sack St Paul’s School principal Dr Paul Browning.

On Wednesday I broke the story of the shock dismissal of headmaster Paul Browning by the Anglican Church and its schools commission.

I say shock because not only did parents have no clue of the abrupt departure on Friday of the widely respected Dr Browning – who over 15 years had transformed the culture of a school lambasted, along with Brisbane Grammar, in the 2017 Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse over its inaction against paedophile staff in the 1980s and 1990s – but the school’s council wholly endorsed Dr Browning’s contract renewal. So did a glowing review last year of Dr Browning’s performance as a leader by an independent firm approved by the Church.

Never mind – the entire council was sacked by Bishop Greaves, a month ago, again with parents being none the wiser until questions this week by The Courier-Mail elicited an overdue response from the Anglican Schools Commission.

St Paul’s School parents, teachers and students demand the reinstatement of principal Paul Browning.

It took almost a full 24 hours for Bishop Greaves, in his role as chair of the ASC, after Dr Browning wrote to the school community at 4pm on Wednesday, to communicate with parents about the ousting of the headmaster and the council (members of which are sanctioned by the Church in the first place).

In that time, hundreds of angry parents, devastated staff and distressed students begged for answers and implored the Church to immediately reinstate Dr Browning.

Protests were held, letters written, media interviews given.

Students wore their uniforms inside out to send a message to the Church it should reverse its decision. That move alone speaks volumes.

Now, still dissatisfied with the lack of information from the Church over the removal of Dr Browning – “essentially the relationship between employer and employee had broken”, Bishop Greaves said, adding “for some time there had been a drift in alignment between the leadership of the school and the ASC” – please explain – parents are demanding a personal meeting with the Bishop.

That request remains unanswered.

Certainly, St Paul’s might be just one school among thousands in this state where politics plays out large.

Dr Paul Browning was axed as St Paul’s School principal after clashing with the Anglican Church. Picture: Mark Cranitch.

But authorities with powerful influence over the governance of schools – independent, church-based or public – must remember that schools exist for children.

Decisions should always be made in the best interests of the students – and who better to include in those decisions than parents?

In a rather extraordinary extension to this St Paul’s saga, I spoke with Tom Biggs on Thursday.

The retired medico is chair of the Churchie Committee at the Anglican Church Grammar School.

Churchie and St Paul’s fall under the governance remit of the ASC, along with a host of other schools including St Hilda’s, The Southport School and Toowoomba Anglican.

Dr Biggs said his committee of old boys stood with St Paul’s and Dr Browning, accusing the Church of a “phenomenal overreach” of governance. Churchie, too, has had principal dramas – of a different kind.

Dr Alan Campbell was recently officially reappointed as headmaster for another five years by the ASC, despite intense lobbying by certain (since sacked) members of its school council and by influential old boys and current parents dissatisfied with his management style.

As Dr Biggs correctly said: parents and grandparents expect a school council to ensure kids have the best teachers and a standout principal.

True, but it’s a bit hard when the council has been punted or overruled and parents are left wondering what the hell is going on.

To me, it shouldn’t matter if parents are paying fees or not. At the crux of this is accountability, transparency and communication.

Parents are a vital part of the education process and deserve to be recognised and treated as such.

Kylie Lang is associate editor of The Courier-Mail
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