Independent Yipirinya School principal ‘terminated’ by government appointed school statutory manager
A troubled independent Alice Springs school – where staff are facing redundancy – is again searching for another principal, after the man in the top role was ‘terminated’. Read the latest.
A troubled Alice Springs school – where staff members are facing the chopping block – has lost another principal, the fourth to go in two years.
Late on Tuesday, Yipirinya School statutory manager Stuart Reid announced school principal Justin Colley had been “terminated”.
The decision was made after “careful consideration,” the statement said, but no further reason was given for the termination.
In statement, Mr Reid said an interim principal will start at the school on Wednesday. The interim principal was not named in the statement.
The interim principal will stay in the role until the end of the year, with a new school principal to be announced in 2026, according to the statement.
“Dedicated Yipirinya School teachers and support staff remain in place to support families and will continue to deliver teaching and learning for children at Yipirinya School Monday to Friday,” the statement said.
The “termination” comes as staff at Yipirinya School could potentially be made redundant, with Mr Reid previously flagging 15-20 jobs are on the line.
A campaign to led by “save Yipirinya School” is fighting the redundancies.
Close to 150 academics have signed a letter of support against the redundancies, and an online petition also opposing the redundancies has attracted more than 500 signatures.
The redundancies are reportedly set to impact some of the longest serving staff members of the school, such as the daughters of one of the school’s founders who’s been there since 1978.
Yipirinya School, an independent school, was established by Elders from various town camps in Alice Springs.
In June, Mr Reid was appointed statutory manager of the school, by the NT government, at the request of the school board.
The school board now acts in a advisory capacity to Mr Ried.
In his statement on Tuesday, he again reiterated his role is to implement the recommendations from an independent report into the school.
The report was commissioned last year after a “number of complaints” were made about the school, NT education minister Jo Hersey told parliament in March.
The Department of Business, Trade, and Asian Relations are the department in charge of overseeing the statutory management.
Mr Colley has been in the top role at the school since June this year, after taking over the role from Shane Cumming.
“I remain utterly bewildered and disappointed by the decision, which contradicts all of the evidence about my performance as principal of Yipirinya School,” Mr Colley said.
Mr Cumming – reportedly stood down by the board – took over from an interim principal, who was in place after Gavin Morris left the school.
Morris parted ways with Yipirinya after he was charged with five counts of aggravated assault in August last year.
In October, he was found guilty on four out of the five counts by Judge Anthony Hopkins.
Judge Hopkins’ findings came after a two-week judge-only trial.
Morris pleaded not guilty to his charges at the beginning of his trial on September 2.
He will be sentenced on December 8.
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Originally published as Independent Yipirinya School principal ‘terminated’ by government appointed school statutory manager
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