So what?
Beyond PMSA President Chris Humphrey outlines why now is the time for change.
The PMSA will celebrate its centenary next year, and while it might be nice for the current members of the PMSA to plan their celebrations, I personally hope there will be no cake.
Most people who read the Beyond PMSA Facebook page and this blog are aware of the circumstances that led to the current movement to change the governance structure of the schools owned by the Presbyterian and Methodist Schools Association (PMSA). This movement has many supporters, but some will not come out and support the movement publicly for fear of reprisals.
There are others who are watching from the sidelines and asking themselves ‘what’s the point?’ or ‘the PMSA has survived this long, why do we need to do anything?’
The point is we need to act now for future generations, to ensure the viability and reputations of our schools, because the financial position of each of the schools can get worse, and their reputations can be lost.
There are many risks in life, and one of them is refusing to evolve when change is demanded. The world is very different now to the one in which the PMSA started, and the pace of change is not slowing down. It is not safe to let the PMSA resist the forces of change.
One of my favourite quotes is U.S. General Eric Shinseki’s statement: “If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less.” Remember Blockbuster Video? They stuck to the old business model, they did not listen to the market or its stakeholders, and the business has gone the same way as dodo, Kodak, and Borders.
While St Aidan’s and St Margaret’s schools looked to the future and saw a need for change over 10 years ago, the PMSA still firmly resists even consideration of the idea. St Aidan’s and St Margaret’s adopted a new governance structure, establishing a trust and transferring ownership of the schools to it and then creating independent school councils for each of the schools. The two still work collaboratively where they can, but they are separate entities.
History will repeat itself
Currently, we have a collection of well-meaning, but underqualified amateurs in charge of large education businesses. However, modern education is complex and demands a greater professionalism to ensure strategic planning, educational standards, staff, and financial management are constantly best practice. This means now and into the future.
What happened at Somerville House recently can happen at any of the other PMSA schools. And given there has been no recognition of the unjust nature of the recent events at Somerville, we can expect it will happen again. We know this because we saw it at Brisbane Boys’ College (BBC) in 1977 and at Clayfield College in 2015.
While other independent schools are creating more independent structures, the PMSA is endeavouring to consolidate its power by stacking the school councils and not allowing P&Fs to incorporate, even though this leaves P&F committee members personally liable for the running of tuckshops and clothing pools without the protection of a company structure.
The PMSA has an autocratic control over each of the schools, leaving principals, staff, parents, and other stakeholders with little or no say in decisions made on our behalf, and no process to have those decisions – often involving large sums of money and strategic direction – reviewed and or reversed.
If the PMSA truly has the best interests of the schools at heart, it must want a future for them, which means abandoning the ‘we’ve always done it that way’ philosophy to introduce modern management practices. It will take strong leadership – from both the Church moderators and the members of the PMSA themselves – to do this, but I believe it can be done.
Impact on students
For most of us, we see the recent removal of Somerville House’s principal as a potential risk both from a reputation and financial perspective.
But it also has an impact on the students. Following the dismissal of the BBC rowing coach in 2014, students were teased and bullied by other school students, particularly at rowing meets.
More recently, Somerville House students faced a traumatic end of year when their principal was escorted from the school, just four weeks before the end of term and right in the middle of the Year 12 exam block. Those students were not able to say goodbye to their respected principal on Speech Night, and I doubt they will remember the last weeks of school with fondness.
And we can’t forget Clayfield students. These students are being teased that their school is ‘going broke’ and that they may not have a school going forward.
Despite these incidences, students at each of the four PMSA schools are proud to belong to their school community. But should they have to suffer public humiliation that is beyond their control? No.
Reputational impact
The reputation of each of the PMSA schools is at risk. With each bad decision the PMSA makes, and each good decision they fail to consider, the reputation of the schools is damaged. To quote U.S. Founding Father Benjamin Franklin: “It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it.”
The impact of this on recruitment is significant. In the same way employers google candidates, candidates google employers. If you google recent news ‘PMSA’ this is what you get:
PMSA schools scandal: parents withdraw students over church body’s ‘deplorable’ treatment
PMSA schools scandal: Town Hall meeting’s No confidence vote
PMSA schools scandal: no nudity rule for Korean bathhouse
Brisbane Elite School scandal: Parents protest against PMSA
More join call to sack elite private school body PMSA
PMSA schools scandal cost careers and smeared reputations
For Somerville House:
Somerville House Brisbane parents protest axing of Principal and gag orders
Elite Queensland private school Somerville House embroiled in scandal
More join call to sack elite private school body PMSA
Gagged Somerville House parents march on private school in anger
‘We are not going away’: Somerville House parents
And because each of the four schools are mentioned whenever the PMSA is reported in the media, Clayfield College and BBC are tainted as a result of recent events at Somerville House as well as their own past scandals.
If a teacher had a choice to work at a school embroiled in scandal and one that was not, which one do you think they would choose? Recruiting a new principal of quality for Somerville House may prove difficult when the most recent one was marched off the premises because she acted with integrity.
High levels of staff engagement and morale are essential to ensure that teachers are able to operate at an optimal level, which in turn allows the students to perform at their best. This very important aspect of people management has been ignored by the PMSA for too long.
Impact on enrolments
None of us want to see enrolments drop, but we’re already hearing of parents removing their children from PMSA schools. Even parents who are past pupils of our schools are leaving, and it is by no means an easy decision for them to make.
Parents of potential students are also watching the media and electing not to take up places at each of the PMSA schools. Entrusting the care of their children to a school is a major decision for parents. If the teachers aren’t happy and secure in their roles, academic performance is risked. It’s a competitive education market out there, and parents want reassurance their fees are paying being used for their intended purpose – the education of their children.
Impact on funding
Fewer enrolments means less funding, including government funding.
With each damning scandal, it becomes increasingly difficult to raise funds from the parent and donor body. The Deloitte report, which outlined a plan to centralise the operational functions of the four schools under the PMSA with each school campus becoming a mere business unit, served to frighten donors away. They were concerned their donations would merge into a central pool and would not be directed to the school for which it was intended.
Reduced enrolments, government funding and donation income will lead to each of the schools failing to keep up with their infrastructure needs, making it more difficult to keep up with their main competitors. It is a vicious circle.
Be informed
If after reading this, you are still on the fence about whether to be involved or not, stay informed via this page or the Facebook page.
If you’re thinking you need to be involved, but Christmas and life are getting in the way, realise it’s important to make the time. This is particularly important for those with young students at these schools or those who are yet to start. There will be another incident if change does not happen now. History has shown this. None of us wants to be five years down the track, saying ‘this is de ja vu” and realising we all missed the best chance we’ve ever had to create real change.
Maintaining the status quo is not acceptable. We need change urgently, because the impacts are significant and they affect the most important stakeholders: our children and our teachers.
