Cranbrook school board publicly scolds parents amid co-ed dispute

The $40K a year private school has hit back at parents, calling out “four disaffected individuals”.

An aggressive feud between rich parents at one of Sydney’s most expensive private schools over whether or not it will admit girls as students has gone embarrassingly public.

The $39,894 a year Bellevue Hill school Cranbrook’s governing council issued a sharp rebuke of four unnamed parents on Thursday, who they said had for months been waging attacks on the school’s governing council in the media because they refused to admit female students as soon as 2023.

“The latest article follows a series of media stories over the last six months that relate to complaints by four disaffected individuals,” the letter said.

“The complaints concern the community consultation process in relation to co-education, the governance of the School and the tenure of the Headmaster.

Cranbrook has publicly scolded parents over a dispute on its co-ed policy. Picture: Richard Dobson

“They have challenged the reputation and governance of Cranbrook through an ongoing media campaign and in a way which has intimidated members of the School Council via legal threats.”

The letter claimed their grievance began earlier in the year when they “expressed displeasure that the School Council did not embrace the proposal for Cranbrook to become co-educational by admitting 40 scholarship girls into Year 11 and Year 12 on a very compressed timeframe.”

“Instead, the School Council considered the various models of introducing co-education, the

implementation risks associated with each model, and the fact that 45% of senior school parents expressed concerns with the rush to admit a very small number of girls in 2023.”

The school has previously said it is developing an approach to co-education. Picture: Richard Dobson

Despite claims made in the media, the letter which was signed by School council president Jon North, said the council agreed to extend the tenure of the headmaster Nicholas Sampson.

“The School Council has subsequently reassured the Headmaster that it is supportive of him performing his contract,” the letter said.

“As part of the extension arrangements, the Headmaster agreed to support the School Council’s strategic plan regarding the on-going implementation of the IB Diploma, the revitalisation of the Bellevue Hill campus, the expansion of Wolgan Valley and certain strategic initiatives including the development of a desired approach to co-education.”