The announcement has prompted an "overwhelming" number of staff PPTA union members to discuss a vote of no confidence in the school’s board of trustees.
The school says teachers will not be aware of all the circumstance of the principal’s departure and that a governance adviser working closely with its board has not indicated any "major overreach" by the board, which feels it is in touch with its community’s views.
Principal Charissa Nicol has been on leave for the past three months, and a statement emailed to staff and parents yesterday by Columba College Board of Trustees presiding member Graeme Riley and Board of Governors president Amy Columb said Mrs Nicol would not be returning, and acting principal Aaron Everett would remain in the role "in the meantime".
"We would like to thank Mrs Nicol for all her work at the college," the statement said.
"She has shown passion and drive in leading the school and we wish her all the very best in her endeavours."
A Columba teacher, who wanted to remain anonymous, said there was a lot of "unhappy" and "bewildered" staff following the announcement.
"Many people are obviously upset.
"The teachers were all standing around looking serious and hugging each other.
"I think the atmosphere is generally confused — we don’t actually know what’s happened or what to expect next."
Another staff member said staff were "very united" in their support for Mrs Nicol.
"There might be one or two exceptions in there, but overwhelmingly, we are supportive of Charissa.
"The problem is that there’s just so much fear around speaking out, for the fear of retribution from the boards — we don’t want to lose our jobs."
The teacher believed both boards were "problematic" in that they had "overreached" in their duties at the college by trying to control what and how education was delivered at the school.
"I think fundamentally, the board has a history of overreach.
"And I think one of the big things that Charissa has been doing has been trying to push back on that, and that’s made her public enemy No1 in their eyes."
They believed it was the same reason the school had also gone through former principals Juliette Hayes and Pauline Duthie within the past 10 years.
Now the board’s competence was being called into question.
They said there had been a "great schism" between Columba staff for the past two decades, with a clear divide between them over their support or non-support of the principals.
"I have never seen this much of the staff united. Staff are devastated by this.
"We’re angry, we’re upset, we love that school, we love the direction it’s going in, and what we’re seeing is that being sabotaged because of someone who tried to stand up for the way we want to run it and standing up for us.
"And I think the board has absolutely been trying to obfuscate and hide what’s been going on — even from us."
They said staff were now pursuing the issue through the PPTA union, and members met yesterday to discuss a vote of no confidence in the school’s board of trustees.
Another teacher said it appeared no-one on staff was keen to go for the principal’s job.
"I recently heard it called a ‘poisoned chalice’."
Mr Everett informed the students yesterday and encouraged them to talk to parents and teachers about any of their questions or concerns.
"I understand that this news may be unsettling ...," Mr Everett said.
"While this is a change for our school, I want to assure you that all of the end of year celebrations and events will happen as usual.
"As a community, we support each other and I know you will all look after each other."
He too paid tribute to Mrs Nicol’s contributions and passion for the school.
Board of trustees presiding member Graeme Riley said he could not respond to questions about Mrs Nicol’s departure due to privacy issues.
He said the board was surprised at the suggestion the majority of staff were in support of Mrs Nicol, but it respected their views.
"Staff certainly won’t be aware of all the circumstances.
"What we can say is the boards take their governance roles extremely seriously.
"School board elections were held a few weeks ago and the community voted for this current board, including myself as continuing chair."
He said the college had faced "a number of challenging issues" over the past few months, and the board had been working on them with adviser Cleave Hay.
"In his reporting to us, he has not indicated any view that there is, or has been, ‘major overreach’.
"We don’t agree with your characterisation of our past principals or that there has been anything unusual about their length of service.
"The boards represent their community and we believe we are open, receptive and in touch with its views."
