Doug Grubert worked at Launceston Grammar for a total of seven years and resigned soon after headmaster Richard Ford had completed his first year of tenure in 2018.

Frustration has been growing at the school with mass staff resignations and exponential growth in the number of staff signing up to the Independent Education Union.

Read his full letter: Launceston Grammar woes a bigger problem: Doug Grubert

The union has met with staff, where a vote of no confidence was passed against Headmaster Richard Ford and the union has also lodged a request with the Fair Work Commission to allow members to take protected industrial action.

Mr Grubert said part of the reason behind his resignation was personal, but the other part was due to his inability to see how he could fit into the school's future direction and plans.

IN OTHER NEWS:

"I had a meeting with the Headmaster about some of the projects that I was working on and it became very clear that there were going to be some changes," Mr Grubert said.

"I walked out of that meeting knowing that I was going to resign."

Mr Grubert had a positive working relationship with previous Headmaster [Stephen Norris] and had developed a flexible teaching arrangement that allowed him to fulfill his passions through extra-curricular programs such as a 'Future Thinkers' camp for students from around the state

The programs had a strong community focus and were not only for Grammar students but also for the wider student population in Northern Tasmania.

While the school did not say they would withdraw support for those programs, Mr Grubert said the changes they proposed in the meeting made it untenable for him to stay in his position.

It was that, along with some personal changes in his life, that ultimately led him to resign.

However, Mr Grubert said news of mass staff resignations in the past two years and the structural changes alleged by the Independent Education Union and its members had helped him decide to share his story.

"I never approached The Examiner to comment publicly and only responded when they contacted me" he said.

The Examiner revealed on February 22 that about 40 teachers had resigned from Grammar in the past two years and the teacher body had raised significant concerns about structural changes with its union.

The issues have arisen as a result of enterprise bargaining as staff renegotiate their employment conditions.

A survey undertaken by the union of its Grammar members revealed more than 90 per cent of respondents described the current mood at the school as "poor or very poor", and all staff surveyed said there was inadequate consultation around change.

Mr Grubert said he held no animosity towards the Headmaster, and had actually been optimistic following his [Ford's] appointment.

"I had great respect for Stephen [Norris, the previous Headmaster] who had shown me personal kindness beyond that which I might have expected from a Headmaster, but I was unashamedly excited about renewal and change," he said.

"I remember driving along the highway and looking up to the hill and saying to myself I'd love to be working there [at Grammar] one day."

Since then he has watched the corrosion of what he had come to love at the school - it's community.

RELATED STORY: When good teachers leave, school suffers

"The thing is with private schools, what you're paying for is a place in a community. You're buying that extra support and the ability for your kids to know they're in a place where, even if they have some niche interest, they're likely to find someone who can support that interest.

The 'over-and-above' approach of teachers was always based on goodwill".

"I became part of the team and I guess the biggest challenge that I found during my time there was trying to go through the calendar and see when on Earth we could fit things in, because I was just one of a number of amazing teachers wanting to implement all sorts of extended learning opportunities there.

In the wake of the mass staff resignations, Mr Grubert said he still believed "pockets" of that community still existed but that much of the "goodwill" had been compromised.

His peers and former colleagues were uncertain and confused about what the future had in store.

Independent Education Union spokesman David Brear said the situation at Grammar was continuing to worsen.

"I can confirm that one high profile teacher has resigned this week," he said.

Mr Brear said he had been contacted by a current staff member about the high-profile resignation saying that departure would be "a huge loss for the school."

"He is an extremely well regarded teacher both within the school and across the education sector in Tasmania," Mr Brear said.

To date there are now 60 union members of existing staff at Launceston Grammar, which is up from 15 a few years ago. The IEU has been contacted by parents who are concerned about the direction of the school and the obvious unhappiness of the staff.

"Teachers at the school look likely to walk off the job for the first time in the school's 174 year history. They have lost confidence in the Headmaster and are demanding among other things, that improved provisions around consultation are agreed to."

"The union is only expressing the anger and frustration felt by the staff and now the parents at the school. The problem appears to be getting worse by the day."

Launceston Grammar declined to comment on the basis of ongoing EBA negotiations. However in a previous statement, Headmaster Richard Ford refuted the allegations, saying instead it was "in line with other years."

Mr Ford has been backed by Anglican Bishop Richard Condie and the Grammar school board.