Kimberley College group wants heads to roll over school financial management saga

A FEUD that has erupted at a Brisbane private school has not only engulfed its outspoken principal, but has now prompted calls for its board to resign.

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A FEUD that has erupted at a Brisbane private school has not only engulfed its outspoken principal, but has now prompted calls for its board to resign.

In the four weeks since The Courier-Mail revealed Kimberley College’s financial management was being probed by legal firm MinterEllison, the school community has pleaded
for answers.

Parents have received just one letter from the board since the probe began, explaining the review followed concerns raised by the Australian Taxation Office, the college’s banks
and auditors.

“An independent expert review is the only viable option in this circumstance – it is looking at processes and systems for managing the college’s finances, and does not include any review of education delivery,” it read.

Petitions have been created calling for principal Paul Thomson to be stood down, but another calls for him to remain.

Kimberley College principal Paul Thomson.

Meanwhile, an anonymous Facebook page – Kimberley College Public Meeting – has also posted concerns claiming to be from anonymous parents and staff, and announced a public meeting for June 8.

“It is hoped that the current board members will see sense before this point and resign from their positions,” one post read.

“The parents have a right to know exactly what is happening at the college – not just the board’s story.

“At what stage are the board of directors going to consult the parents and students of the college regarding who we want as principal?

“There is no school for your ‘new principal’ to lead if parents withdraw their students in protest.”

However, a source said yesterday the school currently felt like “Stalin Russia”.

“The kids are feeling stressed just as much as the teachers are,” they said.

Kimberley College’s probe is the latest debacle to engulf the private school sector across the southeast, after The Courier-Mail revealed the Presbyterian and Methodist Schools Association cover-up of an IT security breach, covert meetings between figures in a Korean bathhouse and financial irregularities.

Kimberley College at Carbrook, south of Brisbane. Picture: Mark Cranitch

Mr Thomson could not be reached for comment yesterday and a board spokesperson said he was unable to speak to media.

However, The Courier-Mail understands a mediation meeting between Mr Thomson and the board is scheduled for this Friday.

It follows The Courier-Mail’s explosive reports which revealed Amy Thomson – the principal’s daughter who oversaw the school’s finances until recently – was granted a loan in excess of $380,000.

However, according to the school’s 2016 financial report, which was not uploaded to its website, the loan had been repaid.

There is no suggestion that Amy Thomson acted inappropriately in the granting of the loan.

Annual reports from 2014 and 2015 – which were also not uploaded to the website – and from 2016 revealed Mr Thomson owed $56,639.96 in loans; however, these had been repaid.

In the 2016 report, Total Audit Services wrote: “Kimberley College do not appear to maintain an effective system of control over cash funds received until their initial entry into the accounting records.

“Accordingly my audit procedures with respect to cash receipts had to be restricted to the amounts recorded in the financial records.

“I am therefore unable to express an opinion whether the cash receipts the company recorded are complete.”

The Courier-Mail asked the Education Department whether it was monitoring the review of Kimberley College, which receives both state and federal funding.

However, a spokeswoman said the department could not comment on specifics.

“In Queensland, oversight of non-state schools is the responsibility of an independent statutory body, the NSSAB (Non-State Schools Accreditation Board),” she said.

However, the NSSAB’s chairman Vianne McLean said on May 15 that she could not comment on particulars, either.

“Members of the board have a strict duty of confidentiality under the Accreditation Act 2017 and the former Accreditation Act 2001 that prevents them from commenting specifically on the matters that you have raised regarding Kimberley College, Kimberley College Ltd or Mr Thomson,” she said.

Former board member Desmond Hardman last month resigned after announcing he was running for Labor in the seat of Forde.