Judge finds historical culture of bullying and arrogance among San Andrea School’s former staff

School Board focused on restoring ethos of respect and good governance

An independent judicial inquiry into allegations of wrongdoing at San Andrea School concluded that several claims made by former assistant head Trevor Templeman were unsubstantiated and singled out school top management for failing to take disciplinary action in numerous situations.

Judge David Scicluna’s 73-page report, commissioned by the school board, also pointed to a historical pervasive attitude of bullying and arrogance, and warned that “a school cannot be run as a fiefdom”.

The retired judge’s report compiled after hearing the testimony of 65 witnesses and wading through numerous documents, also makes a list of 30 recommendations to promote accountability and better governance at the school.

The recommendations urge the dissemination of policies, covering bullying, whistleblowing, child protection, and the use of social media; enhanced communication; have standard operating procedures and procurement policies in place; and to build on the school’s core values of reason, respect, responsibility, among others.

It also recommends that all major donations should be accurately registered, receipts issued, and donors informed of how the money was used.

Concurrently, the first phase of PWC’s fact-finding exercise concluded that prima facie the alleged financial fraud raised by Templeman was actually money used to build the multipurpose hall and on extensive refurbishment.

It did, however, identify a list of inconsistencies and red flags over past cases of financial mismanagement and the school will be delving deeper into the matter to ensure proper structures are in place and to determine if there is scope for legal action.

The findings of these two reports — which are being shared with staff and parents in the coming days, ahead of an information meeting this week — were commissioned by San Andrea’s school board last November after Templeman had come out making serious accusations of fraud, financial mismanagement and wrongdoing.

San Andrea’s school board said: “These past months have been a painful journey for all those who have the school’s best interests at heart. It has also been a crucial learning curve and we are now focusing all our attention to ensure that together with the educators, staff, and parents we can rebuild trust and implement the necessary changes.”

The school has already set up an independent Strategic Review Committee and has started to implement the structures and procedures required for proper governance to take the school forward. An audit sub-committee has also been established to primarily ensure transparency, accountability and good governance within the institution.

In his conclusions, the inquiring judge unequivocally stated that whoever loves the school does not entertain and spread unsubstantiated allegations, no matter how serious they may be, “particularly if based only on hearsay evidence and not direct proof”.

He said that while the School Board had been doing its utmost to act responsibly and investigate all the allegations, some were more “intent on spreading still unsubstantiated allegations which could not only tarnish the reputation of individuals but, even if unwittingly, that of the school… educators, staff, parents and ultimately the children”.

From the time that the allegations first came to light last October to date, assistant head Trevor Templeman and school head Stefania Bartolo have resigned, while assistant head Ruth Azzopardi has been suspended.

Reacting to the conclusions, the present School Board added: “This whole exercise has been an eye-opener where these situations threatened the very ethos of our school. It is thanks to the commitment of our excellent teachers and dedicated parents, that San Andrea remains one of the best schools on the island.”

Inquiry: timeline of events and key findings

There were two separate cases involving assistant head Trevor Templeman that the School Board treated as separate, despite Templeman’s attempt to merge the two issues, namely:
Criminal proceedings of cyberbullying filed against Templeman by a parent over an Instagram post;
Allegations of fraud, financial mismanagement and wrongdoing, which he aired publicly.

The School Board only learnt about the criminal proceedings after they were contacted by parents and in July 2022 wrote to Templeman requesting him to disclose the status of the case. The latter wrote back saying the case had been put off to March 2023 and he hoped this matter had not been raised following the information he had shared with the board chairman on June 1, where he had made a series of allegations.

Following thorough probing, the judge concluded that the board was meticulous in keeping both cases separate. Templeman assumed that since he had mentioned to then school head Stefania Bartolo that he had been called in for police questioning, he did not need to inform the board. However, in the inquiring judge’s opinion “such misconceptions does not do away with a duty to disclose”.

In August 2022, the board decided to reassign Templeman to other duties as an Interim Coordinator as a precaution, and move him to another office within the Multipurpose Hall.

Templeman lamented through his lawyer that this change of role was not acceptable as it went contrary to his contract of employment and was not compatible with his role as assistant head. It was pointed out that Templeman’s employment contract states specifically that the employee was bound to perform “any other duties which from time to time may be delegated by the Head of School”.

At no point did Templeman transfer to the Multipurpose Hall. He was given a final notice on August 26, 2022 and a written warning on September 2, 2022, which he contested.

The judge observes that the reassignment of duties would “undoubtedly have come as a shock to Templeman”, particularly in view of the original stance taken by the school head in February 2022 when it dismissed any ownership of the situation. But this does not mean that the School Board’s admittedly late decision to transfer him was incorrect. It must be said that the School Board did not take the more extreme measure of suspending Templeman. However, until the court case was decided, he was not to have contact with children and had to move to a different office. This move never came about — Templeman went on sick leave from August 30 to September 2, 2022, and then from September 7, until his resignation on October 14, 2022.

Concurrently, another event was playing out before the June 1, 2022 allegations — the judge paints a picture of a clique of people where familiarity reigned between Templeman, Bartolo, assistant head Ruth Azzopardi, and past board chairman Kevin Spiteri, whose company KJM Enterprise carried out the extensive works on the Multipurpose Hall and refurbishment works. This “very close relationship saw them eating out together regularly, going on boat trips and at a point in 2022 even starting to organise a trip to Sicily”.

Templeman was considered to be Bartolo’s right-hand man, and Bartolo herself says she used to refer to him as “Trevor the Treasure”.

However, dynamics changed in May 2022, when Bartolo encouraged Templeman to apply for the post of Early/Middle school head. Despite displaying interest, he stopped short of applying when he realised he would have to move office and away from a colleague with whom he worked extremely well. Witnesses testified that Templeman’s attitude towards Bartolo went from constantly eulogising her to suddenly vowing “to make her suffer” and to “do anything to bring her down”.

Soon after, no longer having faith in Bartolo, on June 1, 2022, Templeman went to then School Board chairman Alex Tortell with a series of allegations.

Although the School Board clearly worked to keep the two cases separate, the judge notes that Templeman “lumped everything together” claiming his transfer was a result of the June 1 allegations. The judge adds: “It cannot be said that [Templeman’s] change of role, title and office could be a form of persecution and intimidation… the School Board was carrying out its duty.”

In the months following the June 1, 2022 meeting, the School Board kept insisting with Templeman to submit his allegations in writing, requests that kept being ignored, until eventually the School Board met with him on September 20, 2022, and he made a series of allegations, mainly:
That former chairman Kevin Spiteri had taken €200,000 from the school and no one knew what had become of these funds.
That the former school administrator had got to know what Spiteri was doing and Spiteri gave him €25,000 to keep his mouth shut.
That Spiteri had entered into a contract for his warehouse so that when his term of office was over he would continue being paid by the school.

At this point, the judge reiterates that the alleged financial irregularities are being dealt with by PWC with whom he held an online meeting to discuss a number of issues raised during the hearing of evidence. With regard to these allegations, the following was established:
The school’s auditors had called to inquire about the sum of €200,000 registered as miscellaneous. Bartolo admits to being furious about this news and she spoke to Templeman and Azzopardi about this. According to testimony, she alleged that Spiteri had “robbed” the school. Eventually, the invoices were traced and the auditors were satisfied. However, Bartolo failed to immediately inform Templeman and Azzopardi, until later. Templeman went on to make allegations of financial irregularities on how Spiteri, through KJM Enterprises, had made approximately €3 million. Spiteri testified that this sum had been made over eight years and included the Multipurpose Hall, employees’ wages, materials used and that payment was always made against invoices provided. During evidence Templeman referred to further financial irregularities — he exhibited a bag containing shredded paper, which he claimed contained documents discarded following the financial administrator’s resignation and which he said had been passed on to him by a cleaner — the judge concluded these allegations were hearsay.
It was established that this claim of hush money, was actually a severance pay package.
The judge established that Spiteri had a 2,000 square metre warehouse and when the school used to empty classes to carry out works the furniture was held there. When Spiteri’s term as chairman was coming to an end, he informed the School Board he could no longer offer free use of the warehouse. This was discussed at board level and since his rate matched other commercial rates it was decided to rent it. Eventually, after the new board was appointed it was established that not all the space was being utilised and Tortell, the new chairman, said he was not happy with the arrangements nor with the fact that the warehouse belonged to the previous chairman’s company. He had started the process to terminate the contract but this was superseded by events.

On school head Stefania Bartolo, the judge noted that many witnesses spoke highly of her, but he went on to list a number of instances where she should have known to act better and where she failed to take disciplinary action.

Delving into detail on inappropriate situations and interpersonal relations, the inquiring judge concludes that: “A school cannot be run as a fiefdom. It is intended to prepare students for life not only through instruction but also through education… Aggressiveness, arrogance, badmouthing, insults, swearing are always condemnable let alone in an educational institution. Where disciplinary action is required, then there should not be any hindrance in taking it; objectivity is essential.”