Parents and staff have split into factions opposing either the principal or the commissioner at Matipo School in Te Atatū. Photo / Dean Purcell
Parents and staff have split into factions opposing either the principal or the commissioner at Matipo School in Te Atatū. Photo / Dean Purcell
A professional mediator has been called in to West Auckland's troubled Matipo School, where parents and teachers have split into rival factions trying to oust either the principal or the commissioner.
Almost 250 parents have signed a letter expressing no confidence in the principal, Paul Wright.
In turn, Wright hasfiled a grievance case against the commissioner, Dennis Finn, who was appointed by the Ministry of Education after the entire school board of trustees resigned a year ago.
And 24 of the school's 40 staff have expressed no confidence in the ministry's intervention process. Only four staff members supported the process in the vote, with 12 unsure or not voting.
Finn has appointed a professional mediator, Judith Scott, to investigate the issues - an inquiry which he said the school would have to pay for.
A group of parents has instructed a lawyer, Simon Mitchell, to present their concerns to Scott.
Mediator Judith Scott has been appointed to investigate complaints by parents against Matipo School principal Paul Wright. Photo / Supplied
Large numbers of both staff and students have left the school.
A staff list provided by Wright to a parent on August 12 shows 22 teachers have been appointed since January last year, three of whom have resigned in the past three months, out of 34 teachers on the staff - an apparent staff turnover rate of 65 per cent.
The school's roll rose steadily from 523 in July 2015 to 592 last year, but dropped to 544 this July. Finn said about 40 students left "in a reasonably short period of time this year".
A parent said families were upset about rumours that Wright had threatened to trespass some parents from the school.
Another said parents had not been consulted enough about changes such as combining some students from different year levels in the same class, introducing a Māori enrichment class, introducing a BYOD (bring your own device) policy in Years 5 and 6, and introducing play-based learning for new entrants for their first two years.
Dennis Finn: "It's an employment-related issue. I'm working on it." Photo / Supplied
Finn said he was aware of the trespassing issue but could not comment on it.
"It's an employment-related issue. I'm working on it," he said.
He said teachers, in turn, had told him they were concerned about parents "coming into their classrooms without making arrangements".
"We need to do something about that, but we have to accept that many parents have got concerns over a wide range of issues and that we have to genuinely work with them," he said.
He accepted that the school should have communicated with its parents better before making some changes.
"Whether we agree with it or not, if you don't take people with you we are wasting our time," he said.
However another group of parents, who support Wright, said no parents had actually been trespassed from the school, although one was threatened with trespass because he "manhandled" another family's child.
Paul Wright removed three of his predecessor's relatives from the payroll when he became principal of Matipo School in October 2017. Photo / File
They said the agitation against Wright started almost as soon as he arrived in October 2017 because he removed from the payroll three relatives of the former principal, Wayne Bainbridge, who had led the school for 28 years.
The school's 2017 financial statements show Bainbridge's daughter was employed as the office manager, his son-in-law was the caretaker and his son was paid $48,393 in 2017 as an information technology contractor. The 2018 accounts show that all had left by 2018.
Wayne Bainbridge was principal of Matipo School for 28 years until late 2017. Photo / File
A spokeswoman for the Education Council, now called the Teaching Council, said on Fridaythat the council was "still investigating allegations of misconduct at Matipo Rd School".
She said the council had not received any complaints about Wright.
Parent Jamie Lowe, who obtained the data on staff turnover from Wright, noted that only two of the six teachers who resigned this year were "aggrieved", and the others left for personal reasons such as taking jobs closer to their homes.
Katrina Casey (right, pictured with former Education Minister Hekia Parata) says "a range of concerns" has been raised about Matipo School. Photo / File
Ministry of Education deputy secretary Katrina Casey confirmed that "a range of concerns has been raised in relation to Matipo School".
"We are working with the commissioner to ensure the wellbeing of the students, staff and the wider community," she said.
"The commissioner holds all functions, powers and duties of the board and has the authority to make decisions about the school. We are confident the commissioner is effectively managing issues raised with him.
"If a parent does have a concern about the wellbeing of their child at school, we encourage them to make use of the school's formal complaints process in the first instance. If they remain concerned after that process, they can contact our local office for advice.
"Our focus is to return schools to full self-governance as soon as changes can be sustained without statutory intervention."
