One year on ...
Towards the end of the calendar year is usually a time for reflection.The conclusion of the school year, the long summer holidays, the Christmas break and New Year all provide time and space to stop and consider the year that was, and plan for the year that is coming.
This time last year the PMSA School communities, in particular the Somerville House School community, was recovering from the shock resignation of a long-term Principal, Mrs Flo Kearney on 10 October 2017.Her abrupt standing down from her position on 25 October 2017, and the wave upon wave of allegations of inappropriate behaviour of the former Business Manager of Somerville House and former Executive Manager of the PMSA splashed across local and national newspapers.The PMSA supported at the time and continues to support the proposition that at all times in relation to these events every PMSA Councillor has acted in accordance with the law and the Christian values of the PMSA: Relationships, Care, Ethics, Personal Development, Excellence and Celebration.
Clearly there has been some long-lasting implications from these decisions of the PMSA.Some of these implications we know about: the reduction in school community spirit, reduction of parent engagement in the Schools and the extensive delay by the Somerville House School Council in undertaking its strategic review obligations.
Some long-lasting implications we may soon know about: the publication of the student numbers in the new year, the promise of the release of School based financial reports early next year for each school, how engaged donors are with their time and money with the various P&F groups and Foundations.
So, what has been achieved one year on?
Are there positive steps towards a robust governance system which will mean strategic decisions are going to be made by the PMSA Board that will benefit the Schools, turning them into world class centres of learning for our sons and daughters, supportive of our teachers, full of innovation and, most importantly, a safe and nurturing place for our children to learn and grow?
Or have we been promised what is essentially a cheap imitation, a middle of the road solution, a short cut to appease the masses which provides neither basic good governance nor a robust decision-making framework which supports innovation and excellence at the operational level.
I fear it is the latter and here is why.
“Inside of every problem lies an opportunity”
The PMSA Board had a wonderful opportunity, an opportunity to bring itself into the 21st century, reform its structure, reform its governance processes, reform its culture.Yes, they did have an almighty problem at the end of last year, and hence a significant opportunity.
However, it seems promise after promise fell by the wayside, opportunities were lost, and then lost again.
Let’s not waste the opportunity for substantive and long-lasting reform.Let us encourage better, let us demand better.
“Opportunity does not knock, it presents itself when you beat down the door.”
This blog examines some of the substantive missed opportunities by the PMSA for systemic and much needed reform.Further, we examine what we can achieve if we continue to request better outcomes from the PMSA.
1.0 Lost opportunity to connect with the stakeholders – the Schools’ Forums
As the PMSA has stated, they were slow to respond to the events of 2017 and the upheaval that was caused as a result.
In their communication to stakeholders on 17 November 2017, the PMSA, via the announcement of their Chair Mr Greg Adsett, that the PMSA would be:
“publishing and speaking to the truth in a variety of school forums and we will be dealing, one by one, with each aspect of the misleading and damaging misinformation that has been published to date.”
Those that attended the forums at the Schools in April, particularly the one held at Somerville House on 19 April 2018, will know that any aspect of the supposed “misleading and damaging information” was not published or spoken about, despite invitations from the attendees to do so.
The promised “Factbook” never emerged.
Neither the School Forums or the Factbook needed to include any confidential information to inform the School stakeholders and provide the reassurance that was needed.In my view the community was requesting confirmation that the process the PMSA adopted at the time of the 2017 events was appropriate, just, compassionate, moral, ethical, legal and in line with their Christian faiths.The very aspects of community and compassion that we are trying to teach our students.That reassurance was not forthcoming at the Forums, the Factbook was never published, and not even a hint of this reassurance is outlined in the Governance Forum Q&As on the PMSA website.
Unfortunately, only “Dorothy Dixers” seems to permeate the discussion at the Forums.A review of the Governance Forum Q&As on the PMSA website highlight the lack of progress on the very few “promises” that were made, including:
reporting to the stakeholders on the various accountability mechanisms the PMSA is going to put in place;
a mechanism for there to be a “parent voice” into the work of the Constitutional working group;
any communication on the actions and progress of the Constitutional working group (which has been “working” since 2015 without any “reported” progress);
establishing a PMSA Community Stakeholder Panel or School Reference Group to be accessible to stakeholders to share ideas with, seek clarity, guidance and understanding about PMSA decisions;
publication of the various School Charters;
publication of each Schools financial position including each individual School’s income and expenses, although it is hoped that this can be achieved early in calendar year 2019 as the 2018 financial results are finalised; and
incorporation of the unincorporated P&Fs at Somerville House and Brisbane Boys College.
A lost opportunity.
A lost opportunity to communicate clearly and form working relationships with the stakeholders of the Schools, and a lost opportunity to take responsibility for their part in the actions that impacted the reputation of the Schools.
A lost opportunity to demonstrate a willingness to action reforms.
2.0 Lost opportunity to implement professional advice and feedback from stakeholders – the Chesterman Review
The response from the two churches who are represented by the PMSA (the Uniting Church in Australia Queensland Synod and the Presbyterian Church in Queensland) to the turmoil of 2017 was to appoint Mr Richard Chesterman QC to engage with the stakeholders of the Somerville House Community.The purpose was to promote reconciliation and healing.
Beyond PMSA saw this as an opportunity to positively engage in the governance process, and provided a comprehensive report to Mr Chesterman, along with a number of people who made submissions.Although no direct acknowledgement of those submissions was received, the Uniting Church of Australia (Queensland Synod) and the Presbyterian Church of Queensland eventually published a joint response on 27 March 2018 after Mr Chesterman undertook many meetings with select executives from the Somerville House School Community.
The Chesterman Review recommendations were good.There was opportunity for the recommendations to be more comprehensive but it would seem that opportunity was not taken up despite the comprehensive nature of some submissions.
However overall, a step in the right direction.Of particular note is that the summary published was endorsed by both Churches, a strong statement of intent indeed.
So why aren’t all the recommendations included in the final governance framework?Only some are included, and it is my view that it is telling that the PMSA, who by their own statements talk about being accountable to the both Churches, wasn’t and still isn’t accountable enough to adopt all six of the Churches joint recommendations.
This would seem to be further evidence of a lack of accountability to anyone and everyone, and this attitude is at the very heart of “opportunities lost” in this process.
The Chesterman recommendations that failed to make their way into the AICD and PMSA final report are:
A. The removal of the requirement that PMSA Board members be members of either of the two churches, firstly for PMSA Board members, or alternatively, at least in relation the board appointed PMSA members.
What the PMSA has decided on is to remove the requirement of membership of either of the two churches for board appointed PMSA members (which I will outline next means just one person). The removal of this requirement is then replaced with the requirement for that one person to be “an active member of another Christian Church”.
The lost opportunity is the ability for all members of the PMSA Board to be selected on appropriate skills and experience, and this lost opportunity may mean that decision making and governance of the four schools continues to be less than what it could be, less than what competitor schools achieve, with the possible result being a continuation of poor enrolment numbers leading to a general diminution of the achievement of students at the schools.
A lost opportunity.
B. The number of PMSA Councillors to be reduced to nine, three from each Church and three appointed by the PMSA Board.
To me this is the stand out item and it goes to the very heart of the lost opportunity. Why was this not adopted by the PMSA following the AICD review?
Instead what is proposed is six from each church and just one board appointed PMSA Councillor.
So, the board is a cumbersome thirteen-person board instead of nine.
Importantly, just one person out of a maximum of thirteen is appointed purely on merit, skills and experience? Only one is from outside the very narrow population of being a Uniting Church or Presbyterian Church member from South East Queensland.
This is the real missed opportunity. Why did the AICD review not adopt this strong recommendation by the Churches?
It would have made more sense to have adopted this recommendation. It is consistent with research that shows that large boards are ineffective. And it would have evidenced that the PMSA board is accountable to the both Churches. More importantly, it would provide a framework that had a better opportunity of delivering superior results than what has been agreed by the PMSA.
A lost opportunity.
We have done the calculations and realise that by ignoring this recommendation, the PMSA Board retains six members who were involved in the 2017 events. In fact, the resignation of Mrs McPherson means that no other PMSA Councillors are required to step down, and there is no opportunity to refresh or examine skills sets on the PMSA Board at the present time.
Importantly and as has been stated before, the continuation of tenure of PMSA Board members who were involved in the 2017 decisions which have extensively damaged the reputations of the Schools, is problematic.
As we outlined in the blog of 11 June 2018, what is needed is cultural change as well as governance change to restore trust in the PMSA organisation. Particularly, can we ascertain, with a significant number of PMSA Councillors remaining in their positions, that their decision making is in the best interest of each individual School and not coloured by their participation in the damaging events of 2017?
If cultural change does not happen at the board level, what is left is a “bottom up” cultural change process which is borne out of frustration of stakeholder groups, poor governance creating management by crisis, and confused and unclear guidance usually resulting in under-performance at the operational level.
The inability of the PMSA Board to take this opportunity to refresh itself, which it would have been required to do to meet the Moderators’ recommendations from the Chesterman review, is a lost opportunity to demonstrate accountability to the Churches, build trust in its stakeholders, and provide a framework for optimal performance of the Schools.
A lost opportunity.
3.0 Lost opportunity to implement world class governance practices – the AICD Review
As we have seen from blog of 26 October 2018, there are some pleasing signs, some hints that there might be some small governance changes within the PMSA, and that is to be acknowledged and applauded. Yet even within the AICD governance review process, there were missed opportunities to meet basic level governance standards.Unfortunately, some of those missed opportunities were fundamental to systemic and long-lasting reform.
As we highlighted in our previous blog, the most important piece of structural reform has been missed, the Letters Patent, because the terms of reference for the AICD review were expressed to exclude all aspects of a new legal structure.You can read in our Good Governance blog series #5 the implications of this.
You can also review how this issue of the legal structure of the PMSA is the lynchpin of fundamental reform which needs to happen for our Schools to be governed in a modern and best practice method, in our Good Governance blog series (Good Governance blogs #1 to #7), in particular Good Governance blog #6 and "Who is running our much loved Schools“.
The removal of the Letters Patent is the most fundamental aspect that needs to be addressed to ensure our Schools operate independently and to the highest standard.
We all know what it is to be accountable.We are usually accountable to our bosses, our directors, our shareholders, our financiers and our customers and stakeholders, all to varying degrees.In our personal lives we may be accountable for our actions to family, partners, friends and even to our children, particularly when our actions may impact adversely on them.We also have responsibility to the community as a whole, to respect our laws, pay our taxes and not infringe of the quiet and peaceful enjoyment of life by our fellow man.
In a simplistic summary, the only way an organisation’s management is accountable is if it has a sufficiently independent board.And the only way the board is accountable is to have a sufficiently separate group of members.
There are no “members” under the structure of the Letters Patent, and hence those organisations structured under Letters Patent that are run by Boards have no accountability to anyone but themselves.With the Letters Patent in place the PMSA is only partially accountable to the Churches, and such partial accountability is strictly on its own terms under a Constitution that the PMSA itself must agree to amend.This lack of full accountability would seem to be evidenced not least by the way the PMSA failed to consider some of the fundamentals of the Chesterman Review recommendations.
A lost opportunity.
4.0 Lost opportunity – an independent Education Foundation to purchase the Schools
On 13 August 2018, Everald Compton, a former PMSA Councillor and respected member of the Aspley Uniting Church, published on social media his proposal to the PMSA, which in Everald’s own words was as follows:
“After carefully ascertaining that I could raise the funds required, I offered to establish a not-for-profit Independent Educational Foundation which would buy the four Schools from the PMSA for $400 million, giving the Churches the opportunity to use those funds to create new low fee schools in marginal economic areas to educate children from poor families.
The new Foundation would then progressively arrange for all four PMSA Schools to become independent. The PMSA said NO once more. Sadly, this means that the only way that independence can now be achieved is by action in the Supreme Court.
The Letters Patent under which PMSA was established a century ago are now invalid as they clearly breach every law for the operation of charities in modern Australia and provide no public accountability.
It will be quite stupid to allow court action to resolve this.
The PMSA can voluntarily dissolve the Letters Patent and establish each of the four Schools as Public Benevolent Institutions that are fully independent. My hope is that we will all use the brains that the Good Lord gave us to solve this with grace and peace.”
A lost opportunity.
5.0 Lost opportunity – Beyond PMSA
Even Beyond PMSA must acknowledge its own lost opportunities.We have been vocal and proactive in preparing submissions, informing stakeholders of the issues, inviting feedback via our current survey, making representation to those who we believe could positively influence the decision making of the PMSA and holding Town Halls to ensur ewe are representative of our stakeholders.
There have been mis-steps along the way.We too have been slow to identify dead ends, and even slower to identify our frenemies.
What we have provided is opportunities and information on how you as a stakeholder can be informed and can participate in a constructive way to promote a better outcome for our Schools.
There is still work to be done, by us and by our supporters.Work to be done if we want to encourage the PMSA to take advantage of these missed opportunities and actually provide world class systemic governance for our wonderful Schools.
Firstly, come along and bring a friend to our next Town Hall, Monday 19 November 2018 at 6.30pm, Wests Rugby Club, Sylvan Road Toowong.
Inform yourself as to the issues and the facts. There is a lot of material on our website so please sign yourself up to our newsletters and Facebook page.
Make Representations. It is still important to let the Churches and external authorities know your views on whether the PMSA Governance processes as announced are unsatisfactory. Especially if you have previously written to them and you have not received a response, and/or no action has been taken.
You can find the contact details of the Moderators of the Uniting and Presbyterian Churches on our website here. Encourage and be positive in empowering the Moderators to use their immense influence as a strong positive agent for change. The outcomes we want for the students and teachers of our wonderful Schools depend on it.
Follow up on any complaints made to the Non-State Schools Accreditation Board, the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission and the Queensland Education Minister Ms Grace Grace. Ask for a progress update on your previous complaint. Ask that they critically examine the PMSA announced governance reforms and highlight the deficiencies and issues still unaddressed. If you need any material there is plenty in our blog of 26 October 2018.
The systemic deficiencies we have identified in the current Governance process will not be addressed by a PMSA Board which systemically is not fully accountable to the Churches, and which still has a large proportion of Councillors who were involved in the decisions of 2017.They can’t address the issues in a holistic manner because culturally they have too much skin in the game.Their desire is to see the issue “go away”.
So, we do need to make our voices heard.Gains have been made but the fundamental issues have not been addressed.We as a community of stakeholders can’t afford more opportunities for systemic reform to be lost.
Let’s go back to the “Why” on the Beyond PMSA website, published in October 2017 and still relevant today:
Recent events at Somerville House, Clayfield College and Brisbane Boys' College have revealed a governance structure which is not fit for purpose today and which is not delivering the standards of oversight of our children's education that parents, teachers and the wider school community are entitled to expect. Please take the time to read the material on this website and consider the views of the parent community expressed through our Facebook page.
The answer begins a long time before Beyond PMSA was formed. See here just one of many thoughtful, well-researched cases for governance reform ignored by the PMSA in the past. This one is by a former BBC school captain and dux with a distinguished investment banking career who knows what good governance looks like.
The many thousands of Beyond PMSA members and their representatives are reasonable people who fundamentally believe that, because the current scandals have been caused by the direct actions of the current PMSA Council and their arrogant refusal to engage with stakeholders until media attention forced them to do so, it is clearly not appropriate that they should be engaged with as part of any discussions for a solution to these issues and the important structural problems underpinning multigenerational governance failures.
People are no longer seeking explanations, they are seeking action.
No action has been offered by the PMSA and even if it were, their decisions and involvement in the current crisis has tainted the position of all current PMSA Council members in the debate. All current PMSA Council members must therefore resign.
Beyond PMSA and its members remain willing to engage with the Moderators of the Uniting and Presbyterian Churches to swiftly intercede to enable proper dialogue and discussions for true governance reform to occur outside of the current PMSA structure. The PMSA Chairman’s recent comments in the media and the many unsolicited attempts by the PMSA at communications with parents via their crisis communications consultants are too little too late. The PMSA media seems more about prioritising steps to preserve the relevance of the present PMSA Council than addressing the impact on the reputations of the schools, and the continuing disruption and the distress caused to students and staff.
The solution can never be to allow the PMSA to reform itself. That is not an acceptable solution on any level.
Beyond PMSA will continue with its unrelenting campaign.
Stay tuned.
