Dunedin school and two Invercargill schools are believed to have refused to implement the Ministry of Education's National Standards, and the New Zealand School Trustees Association has warned the schools' boards of trustees could be sacked unless they comply.
They are among eight schools nationwide which have taken a stance against National Standards, and NZSTA president Lorraine Kerr said the school boards would face consequences if they continued to rebel against the standards, "in much the same way there are consequences if we break any law".
However, boards were unlikely to be sacked and replaced by appointed commissioners until at least next year, when schools would be required to report to the Ministry of Education, she said.
At present, schools were only required to report to parents a child's progress in relation to National Standards.
By far the majority of schools would be implementing the standards this year, Ms Kerr said.
"The majority of schools are just going to get on with it. They know they are required to report to parents twice this year."
She said it would be unfair to name the schools which had refused, but said there were a "couple up north, a couple in Canterbury, a couple down south and a couple in Nelson".
The board of trustees at Dunedin's Macandrew Intermediate made a public stand against National Standards late last year, and ordered principal Whetu Cormick not to open a box containing information about the standards.
Mr Cormick believed Macandrew Intermediate was probably one of the schools NZSTA was talking about, because the board had still not instructed him to open the box.
"It's still sitting in my cupboard, unopened."
But he believed Macandrew Intermediate was not the only school in Dunedin which had voiced concerns about the standards.
He said up to five other schools were "challenged" by the standards.
Mr Cormick was not concerned about Ms Kerr's comments because he believed the school was not breaking any laws.
"Macandrew is already fulfilling the requirements of the National Administration Guidelines [NAG 2a].
We are already reporting to parents twice a year, so we're not breaking the law.
"We have a plan to implement the standards in our own time throughout 2010."
However, a new board had been elected at the school recently, and the school's policy might change, he said.
"The new board will have to have a conversation about whether the box should be opened and implemented.
"But the school is still unhappy with the standards.
For me, the standards will not enhance our practices.
"We are already a high performing school and we don't fit into the category of the one-in-five schools that the Education Review Office [ERO] has described as a school that does not use assessment information to support learning programmes and students."
Mr Cormick said the school had just been visited by the ERO and had been given a positive verbal report about its operations.
Macandrew board of trustees chairwoman Ernie Mather was unable to be contacted.
