St Michael’s College: Catholic Education forced to correct claims of new students after bullying claims

Catholic Education has been forced to correct its claims that an additional 200 students enrolled at Merrimac’s St Michael’s College since a controversial principal was appointed, following allegations of bullying against its staff.

BRISBANE Catholic Education has been forced to correct its claims that an additional 200 students enrolled at Merrimac’s St Michael’s College since a controversial principal was appointed in mid-2018.

Addressing allegations of bullying against staff, which were settled through the Fair Work Commission, BCE last week stated that under Anthony Elmore’s leadership there was “a consistent increase in student enrolments in the last two years, showing the support for St Michael’s with enrolment applications projected to increase by an additional 200 students in 2021”.

However, enrolments actually declined from the time of Mr Elmore’s appointment in mid-2018 when there were 905 students, according to myschool.edu.au.

BCE this week said that by the end of 2018 enrolments actually dropped to “the high 800s”, before further declining to 831 students by the end of 2019.

St Michael's college in Carrara. Picture: Tertius Pickard

BCE said student numbers lifted slightly this year to 857, still well below the mid-2018 peak, and were expected to reach 918 next year – just 13 students more than when Mr Elmore began.

“Our current data for 2021 shows that we have 897 enrolments accepted and a further 21 intended, which would be an anticipated total of 918,” said BCE.

The correction came after multiple staff members contacted the Bulletin saying a “cold war culture” continues at the school with an alarmingly high number of staff resignations and students leaving.

One teacher said of 110 teaching and non-teaching staff at the school, 54 had left since 2018. The teacher said the normal attrition rate was 10 staff members per year on average.

BCE would neither confirm nor deny the allegation.

“We have analysed the staff retention figures and can confirm that over half of the staff who have moved from the school in this period have done so due to the completion of existing fixed-term contracts. Staff are employed on fixed-term contracts as a result of short-term need or staff on leave.

Six teachers made the allegations. Picture: Tertius Pickard

“Brisbane Catholic Education is a large employer with 144 schools in southeast Queensland employing over 12,500 staff. One of the benefits to staff in being part of this large system of schools is the opportunity this provides for staff to transfer between schools to gain experience or to seek promotion. Teachers regularly move between schools for these and other reasons.”

BCE previously also stated that St Michael’s had recorded a strong increase in student attendance.

But according to figures on my school.edu.au, attendance has hovered around 90 per cent since 2016, dropping slightly in 2018 and 2019. The proportion of students attending 90 per cent of the time dropped from 80 per cent in 2016 to 61 per cent in 2019.

Mr Elmore settled with six teachers who alleged he bullied them over a two-year period after they took their allegations to the Fair Work Commission, seeking an order to stop bullying. Mr Elmore firmly denied their claims.

“The applicants alleged that bullying behaviour occurred,” the FWC determined. “The respondent rejected these allegations.”

In the last month, both parties signed an agreement in which they maintained their respective stances, but Mr Elmore: “acknowledged that some interactions that have been had and some decisions that have been made, in the course of his role as principal, have created anxiety and concerns for some of the applicants, which may have impacted on their wellbeing.

“While this was not the intent of the respondent, he apologises for the impact these interactions have had.”

As part of the agreement, Mr Elmore, with the support of BCE, has agreed to commit to any training or support offered to create a positive, collaborative and consultative working relationship, including “training relating to maintaining interpersonal relationships”.

A statement from BCE said since Mr Elmore’s appointment in mid-2018, there have been ongoing discussions with staff regarding the changes at St Michael’s College.

“BCE has offered to meet with staff who have not agreed with principal Anthony Elmore on some matters,” the BCE statement said.

“BCE has always sought to resolve any matters raised. Some staff members sought the assistance of the Fair Work Commission.

“Through an informal process, the parties agreed to a resolution, and no finding of bullying was made, rather the assistance was to improve communication in professional relationships.”

St Michael’s staff say they are unhappy that BCE has not taken any action against Mr Elmore in relation to his management style, and that despite also being BCE employees they have been offered little support.

BCE responded, saying it was “always willing to listen to people with concerns”.

“We are committed to providing a safe working environment and are focused on the wellbeing of all our students and staff. We provide and encourage any of our staff to access a free and confidential Employee Assistance Program for counselling support as they need.”

The Bulletin has viewed a petition signed by almost 30 staff members last year which states they have “concerns that Anthony Elmore has failed to meet the standards set out in the Code of Conduct, eg Section 20.2 – employees must ensure their behaviour towards other employees is not derogatory, rude, aggressive, abusive, belittling, threatening or intimidating”.

A current staff member, who did not wish to be named due to fears of retribution, said students were suffering, with Year 11 students cycling through five different English teachers just this year because of the extreme staff turnover.

The staff member also said that despite a number of principals in recent years, there had never been any previous issues.

NOVEMBER 26

A Gold Coast principal has settled with six teachers who alleged he bullied them over a two-year period at a Catholic school.

The teachers took their allegations against Anthony Elmore, principal of St Michael’s College at Merrimac, to the Fair Work Commission seeking an order to stop bullying. Mr Elmore firmly denied their claims.

“The applicants alleged that bullying behaviour occurred,” the FWC determined. “The respondent rejected these allegations.”

In the last month, both parties signed an agreement in which they maintained their respective stances, but Mr Elmore: “acknowledged that some interactions that have been had and some decisions that have been made, in the course of his role as principal, have created anxiety and concerns for some of the applicants, which may have impacted on their wellbeing.

While this was not the intent of the respondent, he apologises for the impact these interactions have had.”

As part of the agreement, Mr Elmore, with the support of Brisbane Catholic Education – which oversees St Michael’s and other Catholic schools on the Gold Coast – has agreed to commit to any training or support offered to create a positive, collaborative and consultative working relationship, including ‘training relating to maintaining interpersonal relationships’.

In a statement, BCE said since Mr Elmore’s appointment in mid-2018, there have been ongoing discussions with staff regarding the changes at St Michael’s College.

“BCE has offered to meet with staff who have not agreed with Principal Anthony Elmore on some matters,” it said.

“BCE has always sought to resolve any matters raised. Some staff members sought the assistance of the Fair Work Commission. Through an informal process, the parties agreed to a resolution, and no finding of bullying was made, rather the assistance was to improve communication in professional relationships.”

However, multiple staff members have contacted the Bulletin saying a ‘cold war culture’ continues at the school with an alarmingly high number of staff resignations and students leaving.

The BCE statement added the college had recorded a consistent increase in student enrolments in the last two years with the student retention rate at its highest level in almost a decade. He said there has been a strong increase in student attendance and an above-average increase in staff retention rates.

But staff say they are unhappy that BCE has not taken any action against Mr Elmore in relation to his management style, and that despite also being BCE employees they have been offered little support.

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The Bulletin has viewed a petition signed by almost 30 staff members last year which states they have “concerns that Anthony Elmore has failed to meet the standards set out in the Code of Conduct, eg Section 20.2 – employees must ensure their behaviour towards other employees is not derogatory, rude, aggressive, abusive, belittling, threatening or intimidating”.

A current staff member, who did not wish to be named due to fears of retribution, said students were suffering, with Year 11 students cycling through five different English teachers just this year because of the extreme staff turnover.

Welcome messages outside the school. Picture: Tertius Pickard

Another staff member said they had taken their complaints as far as they could thanks to representation from the independent Education Union (IEUA), which confirmed their support for a number of members from St Michael’s College, but were still hoping that BCE would take action to improve the management of the school.

“What none of us understand is why BCE haven’t done anything. We’re employees of BCE as well … why aren’t they looking after us?

“Our union gave BCE all of the complaints, then they spent a week here interviewing everyone, people were in tears in those sessions because it’s been such a traumatic time, then they just sent us all a letter basically saying they spoke to Mr Elmore and it’s all good now. “That’s when the Fair Work Commission was approached by the union. Now the staff and Mr Elmore have reached an agreement to resolve the situation without legal action, Indeed, the FWC’s Heads of Agreement states that: “This Agreement will be reviewed between BCE and the IEUA during a date to be agreed upon in Term 4, but by no later than the beginning of Week 8 of Term 4 2020. Nothing in this Heads of Agreement precludes future amendments being made by agreement and confirmed in writing.”

”A friendly learning Catholic community”. Picture: Tertius Pickard

Parent and former president of St Michael’s P & F Christina Gomersall said teachers had described their treatment by management as ‘death by a thousand cuts’.

A letter from the IEUA to BCE stated that members had advised that Mr Elmore’s conduct included: “inappropriate comments, questions and communication; belittling and intimidating staff, including in front of other employees; unnecessary escalation of matters; unjustified criticism of staff; lack of consultation and transparency; delays with responding/dealing with issues, withholding information from staff; and lack of procedural fairness afforded to staff”.

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Mrs Gomersall said: “It’s gone too far. I’ve been blocked from communicating with him, my kids are all gone after the year so I have nothing left to lose. But everyone else at that school does.”

Mrs Gommersal also said video cameras had been installed in classrooms to watch over teachers and students.

The BCE statement said it regularly surveyed staff, parents and students, and the feedback from St Michael’s parents in its 2019 and 2020 surveys was overwhelmingly positive.

“BCE seeks to support the wellbeing of all of our students and staff who are highly valued members of our school community,” its statement said.