Brindabella Christian College plans to expand its footprint despite making multimillion-dollar losses for two years running.
It comes as Education Minister Yvette Berry is considering if any step should be taken against the school under the ACT's new non-government school regulations.
Audited financial statements from 2021 published more than a year late shows Brindabella Christian Education Limited, the charity which runs the school, made a loss of $2.8 million that year.
The school's current liabilities exceeded its current assets by $19.16 million, but the directors of the company expected it would continue as a going concern for the foreseeable future.
The directors pointed to ongoing government funding and an increase in student numbers in 2022 and 2023.
As of December 31, 2021, the school owed a debt of $3,178,223 to the Australian tax office. The school began a payment plan in May this year with monthly payments of $130,000 until the debt is paid.
The school had $12.5 million in bank loans and overdrafts which expired in 2020 but were continually extended on a short-term basis.
In July this year, a new agreement was signed with NAB for three loans with a total limit of just over $10 million with an expiry date of September 2024. The directors were confident the school would be able to refinance with NAB or another lender on a long-term basis after this date.
The school has budgeted for a surplus in 2023 and 2024. It reported a $3 million loss in 2020 and a $1.8 million profit in 2019.
Board chair Greg Zwajgenberg said it was time to "move on" and the school was owed money from the government.
"We are pleased that we are now working closely with the Commonwealth to restore normality for the college," Mr Zwajgenberg said.
"Our audited position is now unqualified through to 2024, and time for everyone to move on.
"Currently the Commonwealth Department of Education still owe Brindabella in the order of $2 million in recurrent grant funding from July.
"Our major consideration, after the August census payment adjustment by the Commonwealth, is to ensure we can now move capital funds that were previously allocated to operational expenses, that then unnecessarily delayed construction on a number of occasions, back to where it belongs.
"Especially as we are opening nine new classrooms at our Central Campus next month, and building our new STEAM Centre at Norwest."
A department spokeswoman said recurrent funding for the purposes of school education was calculated in accordance with the school resourcing standard.
"The provision of government funding to approved authorities comes with responsibilities. All approved authorities in receipt of government funding for schools must meet the requirements of the Act and the Australian Education Regulations 2023 (the Regulations)," the spokeswoman said.
"The Department of Education monitors approved authorities' compliance with the requirements of the Act and the Regulations and takes action in instances of non-compliance.
"The department continues to monitor and work with BCEL to ensure it meets the obligations of the Act and the Regulations, including the conditions outlined in Administrative Appeals Tribunal orders."
An Education Directorate spokesman said the registration standards advisory board for non-government schools had provided advice to Ms Berry on the tribunal's orders and any steps that should be taken under the new private school regulations.
"The ACT's Registrar of Non-Government schools has previously written to Brindabella Christian Education Limited (BCEL) to remind BCEL of its reporting obligations under the new Non-Government School Registration Standards," the spokesman said.
"We continue to work with BCEL to ensure they understand their obligations under the new registration standards."
An association known as Community for Constitutional Reform at Brindabella Christian College said the school was using the deliberate delay in reporting and the conflating of issues across multiple reporting years to obfuscate the company's actual position.
"Money spent on education is being reported as less than money spent on bus advertising and marketing and the true cost of legal fees hidden," the group's committee said in a statement.
"These children deserve far better. They need authorities charged with regulating the school and its use of public funds to step up and step in."
Brindabella Christian Education Limited was found to be not fit and proper to be an approved authority to operate a school and had conditions placed on it in May 2021 by a delegate for the federal education minister.
The school appealed this decision in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. This led to an agreement with a series of actions the school had to undertake to improve its governance and financial management.
The 2021 financial statements were signed by the directors and auditors Saward Dawson on August 4, 2023, three months after the agreed deadline of May 1.
The charity has not yet submitted its 2022 financial statements which were due on June 30.
The 2021 financial statements published to the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission website said the Charnwood campus was set to double the capacity of its early learning centre by taking over the space previously occupied by the National Co-Op Medical Centre.
A new double-storey building has been under construction at the Lyneham campus since March 2021 while new pre-fabricated classrooms were installed in July.
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