P&F and principal face off in bitter cash stoush

The Somerville House P&F lodged a complaint on Tuesday about the five-month ‘credit block’ it claims has prevented it from paying for activities such as the annual Somerville House ball.

The parents and friends’ association of an elite church-run school has taken its grievances to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority in a bitter feud with the principal over an alleged million-dollar cash freeze.

The Somerville House P&F lodged a complaint on Tuesday about the five-month “credit block” it claims was instigated by principal Kim Kiepe and has prevented it from paying for activities such as the annual Somerville House ball, which is now in doubt.

In the complaint to the financial dispute resolution body, the P&F is demanding Westpac reinstates “all access and functionality” of the account, which has $1.12m of tax-free cash raised by volunteers.

Somerville House Principal Kim Kiepe. Picture Supplied

It also wants “written confirmation of the legal basis” for the alleged November 19 freeze, which it has described as “wrong” and “shrouded in secrecy”.

An angry P&F spokesperson said students and parents at the Presbyterian and Methodist Schools’ Association college deserved better.

“The ball contract has yet to be signed with the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre because we can’t commit if we can’t pay the bill,” the spokesperson said.

“The ball is in doubt and that means all grade 12 girls and their parents will miss out.

“At a school like Somerville House, girls should be supported in their co-curricular activities, they should feel proud as ‘old girls’ and want to stay in contact with the school for the rest of their lives – that’s part of the business model, the old girls will donate money and send their daughters there.

“But what’s happening now is ruining the experience for girls and current parents.”

Another said the alleged cash freeze was characterised by “stealth and deception, and just wrong”.

Mrs Kiepe has previously denied that the P&F was locked out of its account, but on Tuesday night said the account “would be reactivated this week”.

She said she was “not aware of any concerns that the ball is in jeopardy”.

“The school’s understanding is that the deposit was paid in 2020, and the second instalment is due in mid-June.

“The P&F management committee should authorise the payment so that it can be made from the P&F bank account.”

Earlier on Tuesday, within hours of the P&F lodging its complaint with the AFCA, Ms Kiepe wrote to the committee and said it had been relinquished from its obligation to support rowing and music, and reiterated that it had been removed from the running of the uniform shop and tuckshop, effective March 16.

Exterior of Somerville House All Girls School in Brisbane.

The long-running feud between the principal and the P&F came to a head after a uniform shop staffer, employed by the school, lodged a complaint against a P&F member with Mrs Kiepe on November 17.

The complaint was not of a financial nature yet two days later Mrs Kiepe stood down the entire management committee, and members said access to the Westpac account was blocked.

The staffer withdrew her complaint on March 12.

On March 15, the P&F lodged an online complaint with Westpac following many phone and in-person requests for resolution of the account problems.

It also engaged lawyers to demand answers from Mrs Kiepe and the PMSA after “a fundamental breakdown in the relationship” with both.

When The Courier-Mail exposed the stoush on March 27, P&F members said Westpac staff told them they’d been “frozen out” and to “take it up with Kim Kiepe”.

Mrs Kiepe, an ex-officio member of the P&F as principal, denied withdrawing any funds and said the account was “under the control of the P&F management committee”.

But in a letter since obtained by The Courier-Mail and sent to lawyers acting for the P&F on March 15, Mrs Kiepe said because the staffer’s compliant had been withdrawn the “suspension” of the committee had been lifted and the school was “arranging access to the P&F bank account”.