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Move to sack Trinity Grammar headmaster to be discussed at meeting

THE influential Trinity Grammar Old Boys will call for the entire school council and headmaster to be sacked following days of chaos over a haircut.

Phone footage captures hair-cutting incident

THE influential Trinity Grammar Old Boys will call for the entire school council and headmaster to be sacked following days of chaos over a haircut.

The unprecedented move reflects the growing concern in the school community over the removal of Mr Brown after he snipped a student’s hair for school photos.

As part of the bid, to be discussed at an extraordinary community meeting on Tuesday night, the Herald Sun has learnt Mr Brown would be reinstated as interim head of the prestigious private school.

Old Trinity Grammarians’ Association president David Baumgartner said the group would be “suggesting some resolutions” at Tuesday’s community meeting.

“Our preference is the whole of the council stand down and resign,” he said.

“We will call for a small caretaker group to be brought in so the school can settle down and the boys can get back to studying, so they can focus.

“If (headmaster Dr Michael Davies) was in a caretaker role while they looked for a new headmaster, the Old Boys wouldn’t be adverse to that, or bringing Rohan Brown in as new headmaster, we wouldn’t be adverse to that either.”

A screen shot from the video showing Mr Brown trimming the student’s hair.
A screen shot from the video showing Mr Brown trimming the student’s hair.

Mr Baumgartner said “we can’t physically throw them off”.

“But the weight of public opinion is too much — we have a significant component of four major stakeholders really unhappy: the students, the parents, the teachers and the Old Boys.”

It was revealed during an emotionally charged school meeting on Friday that the boy at the centre of the furore did not want Mr Brown removed for cutting his hair, and that the boy felt he couldn’t return to the school after he had been bullied.

Mr Baumgartner said the school “is going to take a long time to recover from this”.

He said 39 staff left the Kew campus in 2017 alone.

“Many of them didn’t leave because they wanted to, they left because of the changing culture of the school,” he said.

“The most devastating aspect is the accumulated years most of those teachers had — 10, 20, 30 years at the school.

“That’s a lot of years.”

Trinity Grammar students protest over teacher sacking

The Old Boys of the prestigious private school have slammed the administration after it sacked Mr Brown over the haircut on the first day of term.

Pupils and parents are preparing to rally at the gates of Trinity Grammar on Tuesday and intend to boycott classes after the sacking of the 30-year school veteran.

It followed students’ protests on the school grounds on Friday.

Two past chairmen of the Trinity Grammar School council said the sacking of the admired deputy headmaster was “symptomatic of broader issues occurring at the school”.

In a statement released by past Trinity Grammar School chairmen Neil Williams and Murray Verso, they said the council had ignored the school community’s concerns.

“For several months now, the school council has been bombarded with emails and letters expressing concerns about the direction of the school such as its current preoccupation with academic excellence at the expense of the more holistic offering that Trinity was known,” the statement read.

“This change in emphasis has left students and staff feeling pressurized and led to a massive staff turnover over the past 4 years.”

Trinity has pledged to launch an independent review over the sacking of Mr Brown.

Mr Brown, known as “Brownie”, lost his job after he snipped a boy’s hair in front of other students before a school photoshoot. School rules stipulate hair must be above the collar. It is understood the incident — more than a month ago — had been settled with the family.

However, last week school council chairman Roderick Lyle announced Mr Rohan’s departure — sending shockwaves through the community.

Angry parents and students attend a meeting last Friday night. Picture: Supplied
Angry parents and students attend a meeting last Friday night. Picture: Supplied

Speaking to the Sunday Herald Sun, Mr Brown said he was overwhelmed by the support.

“I would love to come back,” he said. “It has been wonderful to work in such a good school community.”

He added: “I am embarrassed and chuffed by the last few days. I am amazed that there’s a few people who think I do a reasonable job.

“But I don’t want this to divide the Trinity community, and I don’t want the boys to be distracted from their studies,” he said.

“They are terrific kids and my heart goes out to them. I love the school and that hasn’t changed.”

Mr Brown had been unable to contact the boy whose hair he had cut.

“It’s not his fault and I have no animosity towards him. I feel for him and I hope he understands that,” Mr Brown said.

The Sunday Herald Sun has been told Mr Brown’s departure could to be due to infighting among the school ­hierarchy.

The aunt of the boy whose hair was cut by Mr Brown, said her nephew wanted him to stay at the school, she told a fiery meeting on Friday.

ashley.argoon@news.com.au

@ashargoon

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Original URL: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/move-to-sack-trinity-grammar-headmaster-to-be-discussed-at-meeting/news-story/07ca41f636bc39a7949bdc54f83ffa9c