2 months ago
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At least one cleaner at an exclusive private school in inner Melbourne has been fired for allegedly stealing teachers’ Christmas presents off their desks.
GJK Facility Services chief executive Elias Stamas said staff had been stood down with pay from St Michael’s Grammar School in St Kilda pending an investigation.
GJK Facility Services has sacked staff for allegedly stealing gifts at St Michael’s Grammar School in St Kilda.
“Post the conclusion of that investigation, which substantiated the claims, the staff were terminated under serious misconduct,” Stamas said.
“A gift card was offered to the party who had items taken. We didn’t want anyone to be disadvantaged. It’s just good process.”
Stamas couldn’t confirm how many cleaners were involved, or what was taken.
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“GJK employs more than 3000 people across Australia who go to work each day supporting the communities we serve,” he said.
He said it was unfortunate the incident occurred, and it didn’t reflect the company’s standards or values.
“We apologise to the individual affected and have taken appropriate action following the completion of our investigation. We remain committed to delivering high-quality services and to making a positive contribution to our people, our customers and the broader community,” he said.
A parent at the school, who contacted The Age anonymously, said they were “disgusted and appalled”. “Stealing Christmas presents right off the teachers’ desks,” they said.
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The development comes three months after a teacher left their job at St Michael’s Grammar after a document was sent around demeaning individual children as “bogan”, “ratty” and “anime eyes”.
Principal Gerard Houlihan apologised to parents after the cast list for The Addams Family school musical was produced with comments about some of the performers, including racial descriptors.
Houlihan told parents after that scandal that the teacher’s actions were contrary to the school’s values and that they were “inappropriate and unacceptable remarks”.
Fees at St Michael’s Grammar School, which has an early learning centre, junior and senior school, have increased by 6.1 per cent to $43,428 for year 12 students in 2026.
The GJK cleaning company has been running for nearly 40 years across Australia, and earned tens of millions of dollars maintaining public housing towers between 2007 and 2019. The company was issued three $500 fines in 2015 for breaching its contractual obligations, which included removing hard rubbish, shopping trolleys and graffiti, as well as scrubbing common areas.
The Age contacted St Michael’s Grammar School for comment but did not receive a response before deadline.
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