By Jordan Baker and Lucy Carroll
The King’s School has defended a controversial trip by its headmaster and his wife to the Royal Henley Regatta, saying it was standard practice among independent schools to fly principals overseas with their spouse and traditional for the King’s principal to travel business class.
In a letter to parents on Tuesday, the school’s chair, Rosemary Abrahams, acknowledged parents were concerned after the Herald revealed headmaster Tony George and his deputy, and both their wives, were flying to the UK watch the King’s First VIII race in the schoolboys’ Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup.
The King’s School boat shed in Putney, Sydney.Credit: Janie Barrett
Multiple sources told the Herald that flights were originally intended to be first class, an expense signed off by Mrs Abrahams, although were later changed to business class.
Some members of the school’s council were concerned that the expenses had not been put before the whole council for approval and one council member resigned over the issue.
The school refused to comment on the nature of the flights and the cost of the trip, later saying in the letter to parents that the information was “commercial, confidential and subject to privacy concerns”. The deputy’s wife was flying privately.
Mrs Abrahams’ letter acknowledged the story had caused “a degree of concern” for some in the school community. She said the regatta was an ideal opportunity to engage with strategically relevant schools, “namely, boarding schools that row, are recognised as best-in-class and are thus aligned with The King’s School”.
“Being at Henley to support the crew’s assault on the Princess Elizabeth Cup and to meet with schools that can help advance our strategic initiatives is more important.”
Rosemary Abrahams, The King’s School chair
King’s is one of only seven Australian schools that hold membership in the Headmasters and Headmistresses Conference (HMC), a group of more than 350 schools that also includes Eton and Gordonstoun, whose alumni include Princes Phillip, Charles, William and Harry.
The Scots College in Bellevue Hill is the only other member school in Sydney.
Mrs Abrahams said the headmaster’s contract of employment includes the council’s expectations that he travel internationally with his wife. It was also longstanding practice to fly business class, given the trips often involved being on duty without time to recover from the flight.
“These arrangements are entirely consistent with those of other independent schools that we are usually compared to,” Mrs Abrahams said.
King’s headmasters have travelled to the United Kingdom for many decades to “develop, sustain, and enhance relationships with these like-minded schools to enrich the opportunities available to the staff and students of King’s,” an essential activity interrupted by the pandemic, Mrs Abrahams said.
The Henley Royal Regatta, at Henley-on-Thames, England, is the most prestigious regatta in the world.Credit: AP
“It would be strange indeed if the success of our boys in competing at Henley and the opportunity to re-engage with key strategic alliance schools that can advance our strategic plan were not supported by arranging for our Headmaster and the Head of Senior School to attend the event to show their support and encouragement to the boys and their families and to meet with their colleagues in the HMC.”
The school’s operating budget included an allowance for travel by the headmaster and other members of the school executive, Mrs Abrahams said. Original plans for the headmaster to travel to attend a conference in the United States were altered when the rowing crew qualified for the regatta, for the third time in the school’s history.
“Being at Henley to support the crew’s assault on the Princess Elizabeth Cup and to meet with schools that can help advance our strategic initiatives is more important,” Mrs Abrahams said. The travel was arranged according to the protocols of the school council and the school.
When the Herald initially approached King’s, the school did not comment on suggestions the trip was worth $45,000, including accommodation. Mrs Abrahams told the school community on Tuesday that cost was “grossly exaggerated. All airfares were obtained on a best-price basis for business class travel. The cost of the tickets purchased was less than the cost to travel in the approved class for such business travel.”
Mrs Abrahams said she was “saddened that an article in the tabloid press would give any member of our community cause to think that something inappropriate or, worse, unethical is happening at King’s.
“It is especially disappointing that this issue is distracting us from the real story – the success of our boys and our encouragement of their efforts at Henley.”
The most recent figures show that for 2020 King’s School and its primary school campus Tudor House in Mossvale received more than $21 million in recurrent funding from state and Commonwealth governments.
The school received just over $58 million in fees, charges and parent contributions for that year.
The Education Act says government funding must be used for educational objectives and the operation of the school.
King’s, in North Parramatta, was established 191 years ago. Its fees range from $24,000 for a pre-school year to $40,000 for year 12 and $69,000 for tuition and boarding in the senior school.