Ōhau School parents question teacher exodus and replacement of board

A 2019 photo showing students and staff at Ohau School working together to create an OHAU AG DAY promotional photo using a drone.

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Parents at Ōhau Primary School met with school bosses this week to better understand why its school board stood down and why some of its teaching staff had left.

The Horowhenua Chronicle was invited by a group of parents to attend the meeting, where more than 100 parents asked questions of commissioner Kevin Palmer, new school principal Dianne McKee and Ministry of Education representative Chris Wells.

Some were concerned to learn the school had been under Ministry of Education statutory management since April, and were concerned staffing changes were having a negative effect on learning.

Several parents said teaching changes meant their children were reluctant to come to school.

"We are really angry we are being put through this; that our children are being put through this," one parent said.

"You cannot run a school with babysitters," another said.

One parent asked whether the constant teacher changes had created anxiety among other children, too. There was a large show of hands.

"It's breaking my heart. I can't get them to go to school," one mother said.

"I have to bribe them," said another.

Palmer said he understood the level of frustration but it was important for the school moving forward that everybody worked together to support the teaching staff of eight and the new principal.

He said the dissolution of the board was deliberately kept "low-key" so as not to attract negative media attention and create anxiety among the students themselves, although information was circulated to parents through school newsletters.

Negative publicity and social media comments could have a negative effect on the children and teachers themselves, he said.

"We can make positive changes...this is a small speed bump," he said.

Initial consultation had been through liaison with a "stakeholder group" that had proactively approached him, he said.

Palmer said he could not give individual reasons why each teacher had left until after "exit interviews" had been held.

The question was asked why a new replacement school board could not be established immediately, as there was genuine will among parents at the meeting to do so.

But Palmer said interventions were reviewed annually and he was required to be there until at least the end of the year.

Part of his role was to support the school and undertake "deep scoping" and report back to the ministry.

"An intervention is open-ended," he said.

Ōhau School.

Wells said it was only as a last resort that a school board was stood down and a commissioner appointed.

The ministry became involved at the request of individual board members themselves who had reached out for help. A lot was asked of parents on school boards, she said.

"We agreed there was a level of dysfunction. It wasn't working efficiently and effectively."

She would not give specific reasons the school board had stepped down.

Wells said she had sympathy for new principal McKee, who wasn't aware the school board was being replaced when she applied for the role.

"The job she applied for was not the job she got," she said.

The board appointed McKee after the resignation of long-time principal Kathy Trevena-Brown at the end of last year. Deputy principal Shaun Lane filled the role for the first term this year, with McKee taking the helm at the start of second term.

McKee said she was totally committed to the school and wanted everyone to work together with anyone to be "part of the solution".

•This story has been edited for clarity since initial publication.