What does Mount Scopus have to hide?

Recommendations to improve child safety at Melbourne's largest Jewish school need to be supported by fuller disclosure, clear actions and timelines, writes DAVID ZYNGIER.

I taught in secondary schools for 15 years and wrote more than 8,000 reports. Those reports would always contain a description of what the student had accomplished, what they did and how well they did it.

Then there would be an opportunity for one or two recommendations to help the student improve. And I reinforced that structure as both a principal and then a teacher educator for 17 years at Monash University.

The point here is that there are two parts to a report. A description of what has been achieved and then what needs to be done. In isolation each is meaningless.

And so, it is with the recommendations released by Mount Scopus last week following a report from ChildWise into the school's management of child safety. The report has not been made public, only its recommendations.

While we don’t get to see the report into the behaviour of former staff member Jared Alford or the school’s response, we do have the 49 recommendations, all of which the school has accepted for implementation. The recommendations cover many different issues and, they do not seem to be in any order of priority.

Nevertheless, what they imply is not only revealing, but probably scandalous.

If one substituted at the beginning of each recommendation the following words (or similar), “Mount Scopus currently does not” we can appreciate the total lack of awareness of the magnitude of the lack of child safety was for the school community. We can only assume that the school has failed to do any of the items mentioned fully, or at all.

Jared Alford, the long-time director of student development at Mount Scopus Memorial College  (MSMC), left the school suddenly in November 2021 after 23 years. The school’s principal, Rabbi James Kennard initially chose not to inform the school community of the reason for Alford’s sudden resignation and even praised him for his contribution to the school, despite having already received the troubling findings of an independent investigation into his alleged misconduct involving a female student.

At least 10 other women have since accused Alford of misconduct. At the time MSMC stated that “it is apparent that the former students who have come forward did not feel comfortable reporting inappropriate conduct at the time. The college is deeply sorry that this was the experience of these students”.

The initial independent investigation into Alford was completed by Peta Nowacki, a private investigator. Mount Scopus then widened its own investigation and engaged Jewish Care’s Marilyn Kraner, Manager Individual and Family Services to “kindly” take statements from former students.

A subsequent report by external organisation ChildWise commissioned by the school and completed in March 2022, was released on September 12.  Rabbi Kennard has previously committed to forwarding all material and findings to the Commission for Children and Young People (CCYP).”

In a letter sent to parents and the wider Scopus community last week, Rabbi Kennard wrote: “Through this review, we have received some very upsetting feedback about child safeguarding, exclusion, and inequity at the school. During the investigation, we learned that students had not felt safe or comfortable reporting inappropriate conduct at school. We unequivocally regret the damage that has been caused by this misconduct and acknowledge the bravery of those who reported it and thank them for coming forward.”

The first recommendation is that the school is “establish and communicate a clear governance model that identifies key responsibilities for child safety at each level of the organisation.”

This is a very serious indictment of total failure by the school, its leadership and the teaching body at large, to establish and enforce the basic principles required of all education institutions, to act in loco parentis – in the place of parents or as parents would.

The third recommendation states: “Ensure child safeguarding is regularly, discussed, and evaluated across all areas of the organisation.”

If a school is not already discussing child safety, I am sure the parents would want to know. Such a failure could leave the school in breach of its registration requirements with the Victorian Registration & Qualifications Authority (VRQA).

While there is no specific priority assumed in the recommendation, I would have thought that number 44 would have been the very first mentioned: “Ensure all policies and procedures within the organisation are consistent and compliant with the Victorian Child Safe Standards.”

This is a basic requirement for school registration. The VRQA states that a “school must have policies and procedures to ensure the care, safety and welfare of its students”.

If Mount Scopus did not already have such policies and procedures, it was in breach of the law.

These 49 recommendations need to be more logically presented with actions and responsibility attached to each one in a table form with timeframes attached. Otherwise, they are of little value.

It also must be asked why has it taken over six months for the school to publish only the recommendations and why has it not published the full report? And, as of today, why is there still nothing on the school’s website?

What is in the report that the school does not want to make public? This omission undermines confidence in the school's commitment to a comprehensive and transparent response to the problem.

Photo: Mount Scopus presentation night (Facebook)