Moorooka State School parents in fight to keep principal Jordan Burke

More than 400 people have signed a petition asking the State Government to reverse a decision to replace a popular Brisbane school principal, saying students are ‘upset and confused’.

A Brisbane school community has launched an eleventh-hour campaign to keep their “beloved” principal, the school’s third in two years, after they received notice he would not be receiving a new contract for 2022.

According to a petition launched by a concerned Moorooka State School parent, the community was recently “blindsided by the bureaucratically motivated removal of its beloved principal,” Jordan Burke.

“The school’s third principal in two years, Mr Burke dedicated himself to our school over the last 12 months in a way that was appreciably over and above what was required in his job description,” the petition said.

“In return, he has been justifiably popular with students and parents alike.

“The Department of Education has undertaken to remove Mr Burke on the basis that our school has grown and he is no longer the best person for the job.

“We say otherwise.

“Our kids are upset and confused about the removal of their principal, and we as parents are angry that the department has not given any weight at all to the benefits of consistency in our kids’ educational environment, and concerned that our voice has not been accurately represented in the recruitment process for our principal.”

Departing Moorooka State School principal Jordan Burke. Picture: Change.org

An Education Queensland representative confirmed that the decision to move on from Mr Burke was driven by the school’s recent growth from 349 students in 2018 to 435 this year.

“Moorooka State School has grown rapidly over the past few years and has recently been reclassified by the department into a higher classification level,” the representative said.

“In Term 4 of this year the department ran a merit recruitment and selection process as required by policy.

“A principal from another school was identified as the most suitable applicant from that process and will commence the role in Term 1 next year.

“These are operational matters and the Minister for Education has no role in the selection or appointment of principals.”

A current Moorooka State School parent told the Southern Star Mr Burke brought “stability” to the school after four principals in five years, three of them in the past two years.

“Our understanding was that principal Burke was to be our principal long-term,” she said. “Principal Burke’s sense of community and excitement for the school’s future was always evident, and we were looking forward to 2022 (and beyond) with him leading the school, and finally getting the chance to implement new ideas.

“The frequent turnover of principals, and more recently vice-principals, means this diverse school community has had to cope with multiple changes (on top of Covid-19), and the associated uncertainty and loss of momentum as each new principal takes time to get to know the school staff, teachers, students and school community before implementing any plans.”

A petition to keep Mr Burke on as principal has garnered 439 signatures at the time of publication.