Has the Associate Minister been effective in dealing with my complaint? Unlikely.
Is it appropriate that Te Runanganui respond to complaints about themselves and judge their own actions? I don't think so.
Is it appropriate that Te Runanganui bring the sister-in-law of the board chairman to a meeting about the board's actions and expect her to provide impartial advice to whanau? Really? Was everyone else sick that day?
Did Te Runanganui even try an "all-party approach" when we asked them for advice in January? If they think so then our ideas of what that looks like diverge widely.
We as a whanau have been more than patient while the ministry has gone through its process, the Minister (Parata) has been unresponsive, the Associate Minister (Sharples) has been missing in action and Te Runanganui tumuaki (Toni Waho) has been duplicitous.
Thus far we have avoided speaking to the media because we didn't want to inflame the matter, and we wanted to protect our kids. My patience is at an end. Terry Smith is grandstanding, and he is doing it at the expense of our tamariki.
I reiterate that when the board of a publicly-funded school manages to lose half its competent and qualified staff and more than half its students in a matter of weeks, it should expect a ministry intervention. When that same board fails to investigate serious allegations of abuse and refuses to engage with whanau, they should expect an intervention. When that board hijacks an election process to fulfil their own agenda, they should expect an intervention.
The arrival of a commissioner should be a surprise to no one, and is certainly not a surprise to the locals of Whangaroa. The only surprise is it has taken so long when we first wrote to Minister Parata in January.
We had to withdraw our kids to keep them safe. If that Mickey Mouse board gets validated you can rest assured that the more than 30 whanau who withdrew their kids because they felt they had no choice will be protesting loud and long.
Terry Smith has been dismissed. He needs to be shut down by the ministry so the commissioner can do the job he was appointed to do. Terry's continued obstruction just makes this farce even more ridiculous.
Who died and made him the Minister of Education? Why are the ministers hiding? Why are the kids at the centre of this issue not being accorded the respect and support they deserve from ministry officials and the ministers in Wellington and being allowed to get back to their kura?
DR GARY BRAMLEY
Parent
Kaeo
* * * *
Dr Bramley commented in response to a statement issued by the former board of trustees, former chairman Terry Smith claiming that the Ministry of Education was considering whether it could validate the board, while Te Runanga o Nga Kura Kaupapa Maori o Aotearoa's Toni Waho said the board had been progressing well, and intervention was not necessary.
He said an all-parties approach would be able to settle the concerns about the 2013 elections, which the runanga described as minor.
Mr Waho said the primary concern as to whether a board would be dismissed was the health and safety of the students, and the quality of the education.
In the meantime the former board was filing an application to the High Court for an injunction order and judicial review of the ministry's actions. Editor.
