St Mary’s Catholic Primary School at Manly and St John the Baptist Catholic Primary School at Freshwater will share a principal under a Catholic Schools Broken Bay leadership restructure affecting 14 primary schools across the Northern Beaches and North Shore. The two Manly-Freshwater Parish schools are among seven pairs moving to a model in which one principal will oversee two campuses.
Marc Reicher, currently Senior Executive Strategic Delivery for the Northern Beaches Precinct at CSBB, has been appointed principal of both schools from 12 October 2026. Reicher will work alongside retiring St Mary’s principal Paul McGuire during Term 4 before taking full responsibility for both school communities from the start of the 2027 school year.
St John the Baptist is currently led by Alicia van der Merwe, who will move to become principal of St John the Apostle Catholic Primary School at Narraweena and St Kevin’s Catholic Primary School at Dee Why under the same restructure. Current parish material lists McGuire as principal of St Mary’s and van der Merwe as principal of St John the Baptist.
Two parish schools move under one principal
St Mary’s and St John the Baptist already operate within Manly-Freshwater Parish, which includes Catholic communities in both suburbs. St Mary’s is based in Manly, while St John the Baptist is in Freshwater. The parish also includes St Paul’s Catholic College at Manly.
CSBB has said the shared-principal arrangement is intended to strengthen collaboration, build leadership capacity and allow expertise to be shared between school communities. Its letter to families says Reicher will maintain a presence at both campuses and will be supported by on-site leadership teams.
The wider restructure also pairs Maria Regina Avalon with Sacred Heart Mona Vale, St Joseph’s Narrabeen with St Rose Collaroy, St John the Apostle Narraweena with St Kevin’s Dee Why, and Our Lady of Good Counsel Forestville with St Martin’s Davidson. Four schools at Asquith, Berowra, Carlingford and Epping are also included.
Union disputes consultation over changes
The Independent Education Union of Australia NSW/ACT Branch lodged a dispute with the Fair Work Commission on 2 September following CSBB’s announcement. The union alleges CSBB failed to meet consultation requirements applying to a major workplace change under relevant enterprise agreements.
Union representatives have questioned how principals will manage responsibilities across two schools and whether additional staffing will be provided when principals divide their time between campuses. The IEU has characterised the model as creating principals who are present at individual schools only part of the time.
CSBB disputes the union’s position and says it complied with its enterprise agreement obligations. The industrial dispute remains unresolved.
Funding changes cited in CSBB’s case
CSBB has linked the leadership restructure to financial pressure caused by changes to government funding for non-government schools. The system says funding across the diocese has fallen by about $90 million a year, with schools in Sydney’s north particularly affected, and argues that shared leadership can reduce administrative costs and direct more resources towards students.
The $90 million figure is a CSBB estimate. A detailed public calculation supporting the amount was not available in the material reviewed for this report.
Commonwealth funding for most non-government schools includes a Capacity to Contribute score. The Australian Government says the score affects base recurrent funding and is calculated using a Direct Measure of Income based on the median income of parents or guardians. The DMI replaced the previous area-based SES measure and has applied to all relevant schools since 2022.
Parent campaign seeks pause to rollout
A parent-led petition is calling for CSBB to pause the shared-principal model until the Fair Work Commission dispute is resolved and further consultation is conducted with families, staff and school communities. St Mary’s and St John the Baptist are among the 10 Northern Beaches schools named in the petition.
The petition raises concerns about consultation, transparency and school stability. It also questions how the model will operate while employment issues remain unresolved.
CSBB has maintained that the change concerns leadership structure rather than the day-to-day operation of the schools.
Published 8-Sept-2026
