Teachers and community leaders in Victoria are pushing to change a reported toxic culture linked to a major regional school merger following the resignation of its executive principal.
The Victorian Department of Education (DET) confirmed the principal of the Greater Shepparton Secondary College, Genevieve Simpson, would be moved to a new role within the department at the end of the school year.
It comes after an ABC Investigation into how the merger had been rolled out and amid teachers threatening union action.
In a letter to staff, regional director Terry Bennett said Ms Simpson had led the college through one of the most challenging years on record.
"We acknowledge and thank her for her hard work as inaugural executive principal of [the college] since February 2019 and wish her all the best," Mr Bennett said.
New principal has challenges ahead
Barbara O'Brien, the former leader of the Benalla P-12 College, will be appointed acting executive principal from the end of this school year.
In a statement, the department said Ms O'Brien was highly experienced and would be in the position while recruitment took place.
A teacher, who wished to remain anonymous and was part of the union action, claimed there had been low morale within the school and that a new leader had a big task ahead of them.
The teacher, who said they supported the merger and wanted education in Shepparton to flourish, hoped fresh leadership would reverse some decisions made by the school in the past year, including unexplained movement of teachers across campuses and classes.
"The department needs to look at its decision-making process moving forward," they said.
"People are pretty damaged here and we need the new principal to acknowledge and recognise the mistakes that have been made and embrace a culture of honesty and empathy."
The chief executive of the Committee for Greater Shepparton, Sam Birrell, who supported the merger from the beginning, said he was disappointed it had come to this.
"I think the department has had a really difficult task in managing a very complex merger — they've made mistakes and it's important for them to listen to the community," he said.
"It's a project that really needs to succeed."
Australian Education Union Victorian branch president Meredith Peace said the union was aware of issues raised by teachers; they had previously voted to launch a grievance complaint through the union.
"All schools need to have strong and effective consultative processes with staff, and this is particularly important in large and complex mergers such as Shepparton," Ms Peace said.
"The union will continue to work with members and the Department of Education to address specific concerns and ensure the school merger is successful."
Opportunity to move forward
Suzanna Sheed, the independent Member for Shepparton, said it was important all claims of a toxic culture and low morale within the school were investigated.
When asked if the department had made mistakes in its rollout of the merger, Ms Sheed said it was difficult to comment.
"I think decisions are always made on the basis of what seems to be right at the time, but change is very hard," she said.
The school has become a political football within the community and faced harsh criticism from some community members.
Ms Sheed said it would not have been an easy environment for Ms Simpson to enter, despite her extensive experience leading other school mergers.
"A merger of four schools is certainly no easy task, and the onset of a pandemic was also an incredible overlay on top of what was already a difficult job."
Liberal Member for Northern Victoria Wendy Lovell said the resignation provided an opportunity to move forward.
"I think it's a shame that this has gone on so long and that so many people have suffered because the Government haven't been prepared to act," Ms Lovell said.
"We have this school now and we need to make it work for the children in our town so that they can get a good educational outcome.
"I still think there's an opportunity for the Government to provide a second school that will provide a choice in education."
Working to build 'supportive' environment
DET deputy secretary David Howes said he did not believe the executive principal moving on two years into the job looked bad for the school.
Mr Howes said discussions on where Ms Simpson was being moved to were being determined with her and would not go into the details.
He said the new principal's focus would be to build a supportive environment for staff and students.
"Our focus now is building a very strong team who are going to be able to create a really excellent learning and wellbeing environment in the school, and build a stronger, deeper connection with parents and the community.
"There's a lot of confidence among parents and the community about the outstanding opportunity that will be provided at the school."
