Twist in Brisbane Boys’ College’s ‘gang-bashing’ expulsion saga
Parents who dropped a $750,000 lawsuit against Brisbane Boys’ College after the elite school agreed to let their expelled sons return have now been told their children cannot come back straight away, after the school set down new rules.
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Parents who dropped a $750,000 lawsuit against Brisbane Boys’ College after the elite school agreed to let their expelled sons return have now been told their children cannot come back until 2021.
The parents of the four Year 9 students sued the prestigious Toowong school for negligence, claiming their sons were unfairly expelled after allegedly hitting another child who the boys claimed had sent lewd images to their female friends.
Late last week, John De Stefani, Tam Elabbasi, Jacinta Wrakuale and Ingrid Dimock withdrew their case after BBC backflipped on the expulsions.
Members of the school community celebrated “a wrong being righted” after being “disgusted” by BBC’s handling of both the alleged incident and claims of sexting.
Students hailed their friends’ return, with one widely shared Snapchat post saying “the boys are f**king back baby”.
But in a letter to the school community today, headmaster Paul Brown said he had “taken the decision for the students involved to return to our BBC campus from the beginning of the 2021 academic year”.
Mr Brown said he had “confidence in the process undertaken by the college” and the consequences imposed to date had been “significant”.
“No boy, or group of boys, has the right to harm another boy or make him feel sad. It is never acceptable for boys to take matters into their own hands and physical intimidation, regardless of the provocation, will not be accepted,” he said.
“A subsequent investigation, initiated by the PMSA (Presbyterian and Methodist Schools Association) as our governing body for the purposes of reviewing the college’s handling of the matter, has among other things recommended a reconsideration of the severity of the disciplinary action.”
Angry members of the school community said the students should have been immediately reinstated after last week’s backflip, as had been widely expected.
“Heaps of parents went to town on the school, so perhaps the school should not be scared to be held up to scrutiny,” one parent of a student not involved in the allegations told The Courier-Mail on Monday.
Another parent said on Thursday: “The school overreacted and treated this case differently to others; they’ve stuffed up big time at every level, and tried to keep it quiet.”
The alleged incident occurred on September 8 and led to the September 17 expulsions, and the suspension of two other boys.
In the negligence claim filed against BBC and Mr Brown before the District Court on September 29, parents said their sons were not afforded basic rights and protections, such as an adult support person, during formal interviews by three senior teachers.
They claimed school staff tried to force confessions and that sexting allegations were not investigated.
The BBC about-face on the expulsions also followed an online petition accusing the 118-year-old school of being “unjust” and breaching school policy for dealing with bullying incidents.
It said the students accused of misconduct did not have a student representative with them and were not given the opportunity to respond to allegations.
The Courier-Mail understands one of the expelled students has moved to St Joseph’s Nudgee College.
PMSA schools have been plagued by controversy in recent years.
Last year BBC and the PMSA admitted a rowing coach they sacked over claims he’d told his squad not to twirl their “wangers” had never committed serious wrongdoing.
The coach, David Bellamy, won a five-year legal battle to clear his name against the PMSA with a settlement said to top $1m.
In August 2019 Clayfield College principal Kathy Bishop unexpectedly resigned.
In November concerned parents and alumni from all four PMSA schools, also including Somerville House and Sunshine Coast Grammar School, demanded the sacking of the PMSA “old guard”.
It followed a two-year police investigation into alleged data theft from Somerville House Foundation.
