But the board has been in turmoil for the last 18 months about the school leadership, one former board member claimed on Thursday.

The school's overarching body, Edmund Rice Education Australia, [EREA], also released a statement on Thursday saying the staff and principal Daniel Lawler enjoyed its full support.

Mr Lawler, who started at the school in 2015, has been under fire for his leadership style.

The suspension this week of a year 12 student for trying to organise a protest against changes at the school during Mr Lawler's tenure has uncovered a raft of concerns at the historic boys-only college, from enrolment numbers to academic record.

It's understood four of the eight board members left last year. Two of them were asked to leave after raising concerns internally and with EREA about the school administration's alleged lack of consultation and decision-making. Complaints were made to EREA about the treatment of board members who raised concerns and were then told to leave, the former board member said.

However, Mr Cooney said Mr Lawler "absolutely" had the full support of the advisory board..

"I would describe Daniel as tough, smart, unpretentious and devout," he said.

"He's the boss. He's a leader."

Mr Cooney said Mr Lawler had come to the school with a clear directive from Edmund Rice Education Australia which employed him. He had been previously at a school in the northern suburbs of Adelaide which he "turned around".

"We want to improve enrolments. Daniel comes to the school with a clear brief from Edmund Rice Education Australia and the board to drive change and improvement," Mr Cooney said.

However, criticism continued to be levelled at Mr Lawler on Thursday, including from parents and former students, who said he was a distant and remote figure at the school who shut down any views different to his.

"He's rude and arrogant," one insider said.

"Everything he represents is everything Eddies is not."

Mr Cooney said enrolments had been falling at St Edmund's since 2010 but had not shown any increased rate of fall since Mr Lawler's appointment. The pressure of fees and demographics were probably the main reasons.

"Griffith is not exactly Nappy Valley," he said.

My School data shows St Edmund's last year had 978 students, 218 fewer than in 2010. This year, the student numbers fell to 917 or by 7 per cent. By contrast, Eddies' great rival, Marist College, had no change in student numbers between 2016 and 2017, sitting at 1604.

Mr Cooney said the academic record of the school had not changed markedly. St Edmund's was a non-selective, comprehensive school that took all-comers and was not a private school in an elitist sense.

"This is not a grammar school. It's not a school for snobs," Mr Cooney said.

"It's a school where we want to improve teaching and learning like every school in Australia does.

"But certainly there's no change in our overall academic record in the last two years which would reflect on the current management of the school."

Mr Cooney maintained the line the school did consult with the community on issues but decisions eventually had to be made. He maintained most of the online criticism this week was from "17-year-old boys who don't like the principal" and "we should all be adults".

"I would rather we were criticised for not consulting rather than not acting," he said.

"In detail and in substance, consultation has been carried out when appropriate and in the realistic context of a school. I wouldn't accept the categorisation that nobody's listening.

"But equally, it's a school with managers and bosses who have to make a decision."

Mr Cooney said there had been no mass exodus of staff but a normal turnover of people leaving or retiring.

"The numbers have not changed for the seven years I've been on the board," he said.

"It's very clear to me the staff have a warm and support rapport with Daniel."

Mr Cooney said a change to the school crest was to make the pelican, a powerful symbol in Christianity, look less like a swan and clearer on uniforms and on electronic media.

"No one at the school would say that's the most important thing. The most important thing is teaching and learning," he said.

As to why the school uniform had to change, Mr Cooney said it was "important" and had been "rapidly adopted by the kids".

But one insider said the changes to the uniform appeared arbitrary, such as changing the backpack from blue to black. And it was costing parents up to $1000 to update the uniform, the source said.

The same source said the school was trying to portray the unease about its direction as only coming "from a handful of people".

"But hundreds of people are upset," he said.

Edmund Rice Education Australia in a statement also supported the school and its administration.

"The school has a long and proud tradition of offering a quality Catholic education for boys in Canberra and generations of young men have benefited (and will continue to benefit) from the efforts of many outstanding and dedicated teachers and school leaders," it read.

Mr Cooney said the school had a strong future.

"We'll be here for another 65 years, teaching Catholic boys, producing Eddies boys," he said.