By Lucy Carroll and Michael Koziol
Ten of the 11 members of Cranbrook School’s council have announced their resignations in a dramatic escalation of the internal feud that has divided one of Sydney’s most expensive and well-known private educational institutions.
In a letter to parents on Monday, the 10 councillors said the turmoil was damaging the school’s reputation and affecting its operations, and had made school governance “untenable”.
Ten of the eleven members of Cranbrook School’s council have announced their resignations.Credit: Flavio Brancaleone
“The current situation is damaging the reputation of the school and impacting its operations,” they wrote, vowing to step down on December 31.
“Despite a number of good faith attempts over many months to resolve the underlying issues we have concluded that a workable solution is not possible and we are no longer able to discharge our duties as directors.”
The letter was signed by school council president Jon North, and council members Gillian Larkins, Suzanne Williams, Craig Carroll, Rob Forsyth, Susan Fuller, Michael Jensen, Joe Karsay, Hugh Dowling and Ben Ritchie.
Only one council member – Katrina Rathie, who heads the Cranbrook Foundation and is also on the board of SBS – did not sign the resignation letter.
The Bellevue Hill school has been embroiled in an internal crisis for months due to a deteriorating relationship between headmaster Nicholas Sampson and school council president Jon North, as well as disagreement over plans to admit girls to the century-old boys’ school from 2026.
On Monday afternoon, Sampson issued a statement to parents acknowledging the councillors’ resignation letter but offering little commentary on the matter. He said it had been a “lengthy and challenging” year, and assured parents he and his staff were “focused on delivering the vision we share for our great school”.
Sampson thanked the Cranbrook community for its patience and invited anyone with questions about “this period of transition” to contact his office.
At the weekend, parents created a Change.org petition calling for Sampson to stay until at least the end of 2024 so he can “see through the transition to co-education”. It has received more than 900 signatures.
Part of the $125 million redevelopment at Cranbrook that was officially opened last month.Credit: Brook Mitchell
Last week the 10 councillors told parents they supported Sampson performing his contract, which expires at the end of 2024, but did not praise him in any way.
Their letter also criticised “four disaffected individuals” whom they claimed had challenged Cranbrook School’s reputation and governance through “an ongoing media campaign”.
The four people – who either attended Cranbrook or sent their children there – are billionaire fund manager and former student Will Vicars; chair of property trust Dexus Warwick Negus; McKinsey managing partner Angus Dawson; and Macquarie Bank director Nicola Wakefield Evans.
On Saturday, those four sent their own letter to parents and alumni blasting the school council for failing to support Sampson, saying it was treating parents with “condescension and arrogance”.
They had also warned that if Sampson were to resign, the school’s most generous donors “are likely to withdraw their financial support”. The career educator has headed Cranbrook since 2012.
Wakefield Evans – whose sons have graduated Cranbrook – on Monday welcomed the en masse departure of the council, saying it would allow the school to move forward.
“They’ve obviously listened to the concerns expressed by a very significant part of the school community,” the Macquarie director said. She said an urgent nomination committee should be formed, guided by past council presidents, to select a new council before year’s end.
Cranbrook charges up to $40,000 a year for tuition and only last month unveiled a $125 million revamp of its grounds and facilities, including an aquatic centre, theatre and basement car park.
The move to co-education has been controversial, but after months of often heated discussion, the decision was made to admit girls in years 7 and 11 from 2026. The school will be fully co-ed by the end of the decade.
While all parties profess to support the move to co-education, the timing has been divisive.
Atlassian tech billionaire Scott Farquhar and his supporters want girls’ scholarships to commence next year, but the council wanted to take it slower, rather than “rush to admit a very small number of girls in 2023”.
Two previous school council members, Seumas Dawes and Skander Malcolm, had already resigned during the dispute.
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