Trustees in firing line if teachers snub standards

Union leader Paul Goulter, pictured in South Auckland yesterday, says children's education should not be experimented with. Photo / Steven McNicholl

Boards of trustees that refuse to implement national standards face being sacked and replaced by a commissioner - but the threat is not stopping some schools from making a stand.

School Trustees Association president Lorraine Kerr has emailed boards throughout the country telling them they are obliged under law to ensure that the controversial national standards are implemented.

Ms Kerr said a principal or staff member's views did not remove or negate that legal obligation.

She added that it was "important to remember at all times" that the board governs the school and employs the staff (including the principal).

Addressing the issue of what would happen if a principal or teacher refused to implement the standards, Ms Kerr said: "At this point the issue is rapidly becoming an industrial issue and may require a formal approach."

Taking it a step further, she said boards that decided not to implement the standards risked being disestablished and having a commissioner appointed to run the school.

The email was sent out in the midst of a campaign by the country's largest teachers' union, the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI), which is calling for national standards to be trialled in some schools instead of being implemented nationwide.

While many schools agree with the union and have signed their petition, others say they don't agree with national standards at all and are refusing to implement the policy.

NZEI national president Frances Nelson said she was aware of schools in Whangarei, elsewhere in Northland and Southland which planned to ignore the standards.

Moerewa School in Northland was one such example. Principal Keri Milne-Ihimaera said there had been an "absolute lack of consultation" about the standards in Moerewa and the general feeling was that the policy wasn't in the best interests of local children.

Given that, the school, with the support of the board, had decided not to implement the policy.

Ms Milne-Ihimaera said she was aware of the School Trustees Association's email but that did not change the school's decision.

When asked if she was worried about the repercussions, she said: "We have been quite public and quite vocal in our opposition and we haven't had any follow-up [from authorities]."

Board chairman Midge Palmer said sacking boards which did not force principals to implement the policies would not be welcomed by the community.

Given Moerewa was not alone in its stance, he also questioned "how many commissioners are they going to have to employ nationally"?

Education Minister Anne Tolley said principals who didn't implement the standards were breaking the law and in the first instance that would be an employment matter for the relevant board of trustees.

"There are also a range of statutory interventions that can be put in place, but they are very much a last resort," she said.

"If some schools did go down this route then children would be the ones to lose out."

A New Zealand Educational Institute roadshow, which is visiting schools and communities throughout the country before heading to Wellington with its petition asking for a trial, stopped in South Auckland yesterday to discuss the issue with principals, staff and board members.

Speaking at Clover Park Middle School, national secretary Paul Goulter said children's learning should not be experimented with.

"We are all here for one thing only and that's to do what's best for children's learning."