Brindabella Christian College went into voluntary administration this week due to alleged financial problems, and after the federal and ACT governments, unions and the tax office started court and disciplinary proceedings.
Deloitte Turnaround and Restructuring partners Sal Algeri and Sam Marsden were appointed administrators on Wednesday. They say they want to stabilise the school’s financial position and to establish a better governance framework.
In the meantime, the school will operate on “a business-as-usual basis without any disruption to student classes, to the fullest possible extent”, the administrators said. Principals will continue to lead teaching and learning.
The Christian co-educational school has more than 1,000 Kindergarten to Year 12 students at its Charnwood and Lyneham campuses.
The Australian Taxation Office has launched a court case to declare the school insolvent, claiming that it owes $8 million. Brindabella states that the debt is historical, and that the $8 million figure cited is “misleading”, the ABC reported.
Fifty-three teachers have not been paid in nearly a fortnight after their last scheduled pay (21 February), according to the Independent Education Union of Australia NSW / ACT Branch. The union took the school to the Fair Work Commission on Monday. The IEU expects staff will receive their outstanding pay on Friday.
The Commonwealth government revealed last week it planned to end federal funding; however, funding is expected to continue now the school is in administration.
The ACT Government issued a show cause notice (formal preliminaries to beginning disciplinary action) last month. Education minister Yvette Berry said the voluntary administration would not have any effect on the show cause notice; the process would continue. Ms Berry granted a two-week extension (not the four-week extension Brindabella requested). She made her decision on Tuesday, the day before the voluntary administration was announced.
Ms Berry said the government wanted the school to continue operating, but would prepare for worst case scenarios.
The ACT Greens recently proposed that the school should be put into public administration. Education spokeswoman Laura Nuttall MLA hoped that administration would provide much-needed clarity on the school’s future, but criticised the delay in intervention as a regulatory failure, and called for stronger legislative safeguards.
The administrators have said they will co-operate with the ACT and federal governments.
