The headmaster of St Kevin's College in Melbourne has resigned and the school's dean of sport has been stood down following a Four Corners story about the college's response to the grooming of a student by a former athletics coach.

Key points: Paris Street, who was groomed while a student at the school, welcomed headmaster Stephen Russell's resignation

Paris Street, who was groomed while a student at the school, welcomed headmaster Stephen Russell's resignation Edmund Rice Education Australia announced the school's dean of sport, Luke Travers, was stood down

Edmund Rice Education Australia announced the school's dean of sport, Luke Travers, was stood down The governing body said two other teachers were "not presently at the school" while they were being investigated

The Toorak school has been in damage control since a Four Corners investigation revealed the headmaster and the sport head provided references for convicted child sex offender Peter Kehoe, but did not support the victim during the court process.

Numerous current and former staff, students and parents from St Kevin's College told Four Corners the school had a history of failing to adequately deal with complaints of inappropriate behaviour.

Those complaints involved an allegation of sexual harassment and concerns raised by staff members about potential grooming and inappropriate behaviour towards boys by two male teachers.

Following the investigation, the State Government announced the education regulator would investigate whether St Kevin's College is compliant with child safety standards.

In a letter to parents today, headmaster Stephen Russell said that to prioritise the wellbeing of the school and students in the current situation, his best option was to resign.

"In my time at St Kevin's I have always tried to put the school before self and the students' wellbeing at the very top of my list of priorities. I believe the current situation means that the best way to achieve this is to resign," Mr Russell's letter said.

Edmund Rice Education Australia (EREA), which oversees the school, announced the school's dean of sport, Luke Travers — who had also issued a employment reference and character evidence for Kehoe — had been stood down pending further investigations of issues raised during the Four Corners program.

Until the announcement, EREA had publicly supported Mr Russell throughout the scandal, saying Mr Russell enjoyed "the confidence of EREA as the leader of St Kevin's College".

St Kevin's sister school, Sacre Coeur, has announced it is "placing a hold" on the planning of all upcoming partnership programs with St Kevin's College, until the education regulator completes its investigation and deems the school to be compliant with its child safety obligations.

Luke Travers gave an employment reference and character evidence for Peter Kehoe. ( Supplied )

Two current teachers under investigation

The Four Corners investigation also revealed that staff members at St Kevin's have made complaints about two other male teachers.

St Kevin's College had previously declined to answer questions regarding complaints about current teachers.

"Two teachers who are currently under EREA investigation, are also not presently at the school until further notice, until those investigations are complete," EREA executive director Wayne Tinsey said in a statement.

"EREA accepts the gravity of the matters raised in recent days. Business as usual is not an option for St Kevin's in response to these issues, which need to be addressed as a matter of priority.

"It is clear that what has occurred has fallen short of what the community expects, and what we expect of ourselves."

Paris Street 'relieved' by resignation, grateful for public support

In Paris Street's final years at St Kevin's, he was suicidal and hospitalised for depression. ( Four Corners )

Kehoe was a St Kevin's Old Boy who had trained students at the school for 40 years.

In 2013, Kehoe left the school, but remained with the St Kevin's Amateur Athletics Club as a volunteer, which trained on school grounds.

He was Paris Street's running coach when he groomed the then-Year 9 student.

Peter Kehoe has been placed on the register for sex offenders. ( News Ltd/Newspix )

Mr Street was called earlier today by Mr Tinsey to inform him he had just accepted Mr Russell's resignation.

He also told Mr Street he had the full support of the Edmund Rice community.

An emotional Mr Street told Four Corners the ordeal had been "exhausting and debilitating" and that the resignation was the right decision.

"I hope it represents a shift in attitudes," he said.

"I am relieved to hear that Stephen Russell has resigned. I hope to now be able to begin to close this chapter of my life so that I can move forward. I am so grateful for the support I have received from across the country."

"I think it sends a strong message to the boys and families that they are prioritising child safety."

Mr Street said it now felt like the past five-and-a-half years had been worthwhile.

"It's been one of the toughest journeys I think I'll ever have to go through in my life," he said.

"But to have the knowledge that this made him make the decision to resign, not only makes it worthwhile to me, but to parents and students going forward."

Mr Street said he had been overwhelmed with messages.

"From friends, people I haven't spoken to in 10 years and people I don't even know," he said.

"It just reflects how the power that was taken away from me when I was 15 years old has been restored."

Head of EREA expressed 'absolute admiration' for headmaster yesterday

EREA's Mr Tinsey only yesterday gave Mr Russell his full support in a speech to an assembly at the college.

"On behalf of EREA I express my absolute admiration for Stephen Russell and your staff," he told the school.

"Stephen Russell, his family who have suffered and continue to suffer very unfair criticism. Stephen, know that you have the absolute faith and confidence of EREA as you do your best in a self-effacing way at many of the areas that need to be changed.

"EREA will work with you and we will bring about the change that is needed. But know that you have our absolute confidence as you lead this community of wonderful people through this very difficult phase."

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Mr Tinsey also told students the school had been "dragged through the mud" by the Four Corners investigation.

"We can only begin to imagine the devastation that many of you are feeling to have the culture of your school, a school that is a good and noble school, so publicly dragged through the mud in a national program. It is hurtful and I know that it will take a long time to recover from it," he said.

Also on Tuesday morning, Premier Daniel Andrews said the school's leadership had "some very real questions to answer".

"It's one thing to say that you've got a zero tolerance to child sexual abuse, to grooming, to any of this completely inappropriate behaviour. It's another thing to actually demonstrate that," he said.

"And I think St Kevin's and their leadership have got some very real questions to answer."

Mr Andrews said if St Kevin's was a state school, "I think it'd be hard to have confidence" in Mr Russell and Mr Travers.

"I think that every parent at that school has a right to be angry."

Federal Attorney-General Christian Porter said Mr Russell had displayed "deplorably bad judgement" in offering the 2015 character reference for Kehoe at the same time a royal commission was laying bare the historical failings of institutions in responding to child sexual abuse.

"I'm astonished and find it deplorable that something like this was going on during a royal commission and there were clearly shocking judgements made by senior officials at that school during that period," Mr Porter said.

Incoming headmaster has confronted historical abuse issues before

John Crowley, currently principal of St Patrick's College in Ballarat, has been announced as the acting headmaster of St Kevin's.

Mr Crowley gained publicity in 2019 when he removed George Pell's name from a wing of classrooms at St Patrick's College, after Pell's conviction for child sex offences became public.

"We believe that it's untenable and not appropriate to have our students walk through a building that carries Cardinal Pell's name when the jury has found that he is guilty of offences relating to child sexual abuse," Mr Crowley said at the time.

The school was also the first in Victoria to sign onto a child protection curriculum that explicitly teaches children how to recognise child abuse.

"As a school with our history, we felt that there was such an important obligation now to make sure that we provided leadership in this area," Mr Crowley said at the time.

"Obviously to reassure victims and survivors that it can never happen again at St Patrick's College, and that commitment that we have an opportunity today to provide an experience for young people that is as positive as it can be."

St Patrick's College opened a memorial garden to abuse victims as part of its 2017 apology. ( ABC News: Charlotte King )

Mr Crowley also led a program of reform at the school, whereby former students who became paedophile priests, like Gerald Ridsdale and Bob Claffey, were publicly stripped of their honours.

He went on to give his own evidence at the child sex abuse royal commission in 2017, as part of a panel on Catholic education, and later delivered an apology to former students for the trauma they endured at the school.

St Patrick's deputy principal Stephen Hill will take over from Mr Crowley as headmaster in Ballarat.