Ex-head gets six of the best over conflict of interest

Alison Annan was unrepentent when the Herald visited her yesterday. Picture / Amos Chapple

The former principal of Cambridge High School has brushed off an Auditor-General's report which found she had a conflict of interest when she ran the school.

Alison Annan, who was described as unwilling to co-operate with investigators looking into how her business interests squared with her running of a state school, said the report was irrelevant and of no interest to her.

She said its recommendation that the Ministry of Education give schools guidelines on how to manage conflicts was predictable and the report was of no use to anyone "except taxpayers who will be interested in what it has cost them".

The report, tabled in Parliament yesterday, looked at the relationship between the school and Cambridge International College, a company that educated overseas students.

Mrs Annan and her husband, Ron, had a financial interest in the company, and the inquiry found that there was a conflict that resulted, or had the potential to result, in personal gain.

Mrs Annan told the inquiry she believed she acted in good faith at all times and kept the state school's interests uppermost in her mind.

But the report was highly critical of her, saying she should have known her responsibilities and was unable to distinguish between her private interests and those of Cambridge High.

The inquiry was "hampered" by limited and contradictory documentation, and it had been unable to determine exactly what Mrs Annan's business dealings had cost the school, or how much money she had personally made out of the unorthodox arrangements.

Auditor-General Kevin Brady emphasised that Mrs Annan had been unwilling to tell the inquiry or the board when she was working there.

"Her inadequate disclosures of her interests meant that the gain or potential gain was unclear."

The inquiry also found the school's board did not identify or manage the Annans' conflict of interest, which began in 2001 and did not end until the couple resigned in August last year.

No file was kept by the school on its relationship with the private college. "The documentation of the school's decision-making process was not of the standard we would normally expect."

Mr Brady stressed the need for schools to manage conflicts of interests carefully to uphold the "reputation of the public sector".

The ministry is at present drafting explicit instructions for schools to manage such conflicts.

Cambridge High's commissioner, Dennis Finn, said he would work with new principal Phil McCreery to make sure conflict-of-interest policies and procedures were clearly defined as the inquiry report recommended.

He criticised the former board of trustees and Mrs Annan for not recognising potential conflict when dealing with the international college.

Cambridge High was once claimed to be the country's top state school, with a controversial 100 per cent pass rate for NCEA, but its reputation was blighted last year with accusations of mismanagement, staff bullying and the manipulation of marks.

Four separate investigations were conducted into the goings-on at the school and as a result the Annans, three deputy principals and the board of trustees left.

In June last year, Education Minister Trevor Mallard asked Mr Brady to investigate allegations that funding from the school used for overseas travel might have benefited the private college.

The report that found Cambridge High should not have paid the full cost of the Annans' $10,000 trip to China because it was of little financial benefit to the school.