Fundamental change to school boards not justified

The Institute of Directors (IoD) is concerned by recommendations of the Tomorrow’s Schools Independent Taskforce that would fundamentally change the nature of school boards, significantly reducing their role and responsibilities.

IoD Governance Leadership Centre General Manager Felicity Caird says “given the amount of change proposed and the importance of maintaining a well-functioning system, the IoD has significant concerns about the lack of robust evidence and analysis to justify the proposed changes.”

“Many of the IoD’s members serve (or have served) as trustees on school boards. It is clear from a recent survey of our members that the school board governance model is not fundamentally broken and many boards are operating effectively. Fifty-seven percent of respondents thought the current school governance model is effective or very effective, and 69% agreed or strongly agreed their school board of trustees has the right capability to govern effectively.

“We know there are some boards and schools that are not operating effectively and these situations need to be addressed promptly to ensure the school system promotes equity and excellence,” Caird says.

“Transferring core board responsibilities to Education Hubs is not the answer and 63% of our survey respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed that hubs would improve the quality of school governance.

The IoD has raised concerns around the ability of the proposed Education Hubs to carry out governance responsibilities, given the large portfolio of schools (circa 125 per hub) they will be required to oversee. A particular concern is with the recommendation for Education Hubs to employ school principals.

One of the most important functions of a school board is to appoint and manage the principal and to hold them to account for their performance. The IoD questions the ability of Education Hubs to manage the performance of around 125 school principals effectively and hold them to account. In addition, the change to Education Hubs employing principals would undermine school boards’ relationships with principals.

In light of its review of the recommendations by the Tomorrow’s Schools Taskforce, the IoD is calling for the Government to consider other important measures to improve school boards including:

• promoting the importance of trustees and their role
• strengthening the skill base of trustees by providing better training and support
• bolstering boards where required by providing access to experienced trustees or professional advisers
• providing better access to professional advice
• facilitating ways for local school boards to work more collaboratively together (eg with small and/or rural schools) and learning from the recent introduction of Communities of Learning | Kāhui Ako.

See IoD's full submission to the Ministry of Education.

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