Annan and Cambridge High board under fire in report

1.00pm - By STUART DYE, education reporter

Cambridge High staff worked in a climate of fear, professional ethics were questionable and students' safety was at risk, according to a scathing report into the school.

The Education Review Office report, made public for the first time today, found that the Board of Trustees was failing in its duties at the school.

It was not providing a safe working environment, was not managing principal Alison Annan and had low quality professional leadership and management systems.

The board and principal did not establish sound systems for effective governance and management, the report said.

Staff morale was low, computer and learning resources were inadequate and quality assurances for curriculum and assessment were poor, it said.

The findings prompted Education Minister Trevor Mallard to dissolve the board and Commissioner Dennis Finn was appointed in its place.

Meanwhile, Mrs Annan finished working at the school after a damning New Zealand Qualifications Authority report in August. Last month, after mediation, she and the school reached a confidential settlement which would see her resignation take effect from December 3.

The full report was finally released this morning after ERO gave Mrs Annan added time to respond to criticism.

Releasing the report at the school, Mr Finn said the board had to carry the can for what had happened.

He said the school had left itself open to legal action for its failure to deal properly with teachers' grievances.

The confrontational style of management had allowed performance issues and staff grievances to escalate, he said.

"I would liken it to a runaway train and when they take off and start to roll they are very hard to stop."

The report made recommendations which are already underway at the school. The library, which was controversially closed, will be re-opened, and the achievement recovery programme, where students were allowed to gain "catch-up credits" has been scrapped.

When calculated properly the actual pass rate for NCEA at the school was 82 per cent.

Mr Finn said the situation with the achievement recovery room was an "absolute disaster" but he stressed it affected a small portion of the students and the school was working to help them.

Other key findings in the report included:

* the emotional environment was unsafe for staff;

* low staff morale was having a negative effect on the operation of the school;

* quality assurance systems for curriculum and assessment were poor;

* without a school library students were poorly provided with quality information and resources to support;

* the school's information and communication technologies were inadequate;

* the school provided poorly for its Maori students; and

* the physical environment was unsatisfactory for both students and staff.

ERO said in would return to the school in 12 months to check on progress and Mr Finn said he expected things to have "improved markedly" by then.

The review office also said the case had raised issues surrounding NCEA, ethics and governance that would be of concern to parents and students all over the country and "should be considered seriously by all boards of trustees, principals and teachers".