Marist Brothers College Rosalie - Recent History

Recent History

The school suffered a further blow when on 13 July 2006 Archbishop Bathersby of Brisbane, acting under advice from Brisbane Catholic Education, made the decision to close Marist College Rosalie, with the last class going through in 2008.

There was an outcry from parents, old boys and the community in general. There was substantial local media coverage of the parent’s reactions in relation to availability of placements for their boys in Catholic high schools. There was also concern from the wider Catholic community regarding the closure of a number of schools under Archbishop Bathersby.

The concerns included reservations about an increasingly bureaucratic church run by ex-brothers and nuns who are out of touch with the community and the numbers of Catholic boys that would be thrown onto the State schooling system at a time when secularism is increasing hold in a once large Catholic community. Philosophic concerns were also raised regarding the place of “economic rationalism” in Catholicism and Catholic schooling. Brisbane Catholic Education defended its advice to Archbishop Bathersby by saying that the school was not viable in its current position and that school age students of the Catholic faith in its catchments area were decreasing.

Opponents of the school's closure say that Brisbane Catholic Education based its decision to close the college due to declining student numbers on outdated demographic figures from 2001 and ignored the findings of its own marketing research report which indicated that appropriate marketing strategies would guarantee a viable future. They were vocal in their criticism of Brisbane Catholic Education by citing official government figures and referring to poor work practices and managerial incompetence within Brisbane Catholic Education as the real reason for the schools misfortune.

Still other opponents of the school's closure referred to hidden agendas in relation to the land the school and its sport fields sit on.

Subsequent to the announcement a group of old boys, business leaders, parents, and concerned Catholics calling itself "Save Rosa" formed the "Rosalie College Interim Board" and have lobbied to keep the school open or open another Catholic School on the site. The group has been successful in gaining official support from local and Queensland State politicians, local businesses and the community as well as behind the scene support from Catholic Orders, Catholic priests and senior public servants. The group, headed by high profile businessman Barry Maranta approached the Brisbane Archdiocese with a business plan and approved curriculum but their offer was rejected without explanation. The group has vowed to keep working towards a solution that results in a school at the site.

It remains to be seen what will come of the school but concerns have been published in the local media regarding the fact that all of the Catholic high schools in the vicinity are at capacity and have started to refuse Catholic boys admission. Apparently this has led to a crisis which is eroding the faith in the Catholic Church administration, especially given that members of the Archdiocese are complaining that the Archbishop is either not responding or not seeing letters addressed to him regarding the problem.