Anger between parents and administrators boiled over at an explosive annual meeting, but the fight over who controls the city’s kindergartens is far from over. Laine Priestley reports.
It was not your usual kindy meeting.
The news that some control over Dunedin’s kindergartens would be handed over to a national body "went down people’s throats like hot sick", a parent recalled.
Tensions rose further as parents were told elections for Dunedin Kindergartens Association (DK) board membership had been suspended.
People started shouting. Parents accused DK of a guerrilla-style takeover.
Some parents turned on each other as the 100 people crammed into an Edgar Centre meeting room split into factions.
And the aftermath of April’s chaotic DK annual meeting has been anything but pleasant.
Accusations of bullying have since been levelled at DK and the national body, New Zealand Kindergartens (NZK), after a vocal critic was threatened with losing her membership.
On one side DK and NZK say the 24 kindergartens covered by the organisation in the city are running at a loss and they need to adapt to the demands of the 21st century parent.
On the other side parents and committee members fear changes will include fee increases and kindergarten closures.
But most of all, parents say they have been blindsided by a plan which cuts them out of decision-making involving their children.
Loss of control
Former DK general manager Christine Kerr, who resigned after 20 years in the job last year, says losing the parental voice will mean worse outcomes for children in the city.
"Dunedin Kindergartens has been a parent-led organisation and open to the views, opinions and feedback of communities.
"It has had the city’s most vulnerable children at its heart."
Losing the parent voice put this at risk.
"The proposed model lacks local voice and vision and leaves the organisation vulnerable to top-down management practice directed by others not associated with the communities which it serves."
She said the top-down approach was displayed at the annual meeting, where "both the parent group and teaching teams were overridden".
A Dunedin parent, who asked to not be named, said they had attended meetings with NZK and DK, and was worried DK "had been badly advised".
The parent said there was close to "zero trust" of NZK for many parents..
They said staff were scared and worried about what was to come, and plans for a mass exodus were being discussed between "terrified" teachers.
"I said to them, ‘can we agree we are in a real crisis of trust?’ ... and I feel like they were a bit sceptical about that."
What are the changes and why are they being made?
The changes have not come out of nowhere.
DK is running at a loss and both DK and NZK say an overhaul is needed to ensure its future.
The proposed model is based on recommendations by PricewaterhouseCooper’s (PwC) report, commissioned by DK and NZK to find ways to keep the association viable and sustainable.
The proposal, sent to the Otago Daily Times, said change was needed to ensure long-term financial sustainability.
This year’s DK budget showed the association ended the past financial year at a loss of $122,555.
The changes included governance through a national board, instead of a local one, board member selections based on technical skills and attributes, moving to full-day and all-year hours of operation, clustering enrolments, and changing to a 20-hours free and cost-recovery model for fees.
Most kindergartens in Dunedin only operated until mid-afternoon and closed during the school holidays.
Not every kindergarten parent was against the changes.
A Dunedin mother, who asked not to be named, said "you can’t make families all have four children and have a stay-at-home mother — kindergartens need to adapt with changing times and what family life looks like in the 21st century".
"Family life is different, the cost of living is ballooning and many families — mine included — can’t afford to not have two parents in full-time work, we can’t leave the kids alone, so we have no choice but to have them at an all-day kindy or daycare."
Asked why the changes were needed, NZK Network chief executive Jill Bond provided a newsletter sent by the DK board to parents.
The newsletter acknowledged mistakes had been made, but laid out the case for change.
"We know a large amount of information was shared prior to the AGM, and that we tried to progress constitutional change too quickly.
"In other instances we may not have provided enough information, or clear enough information to members in a timely manner."
The board pointed to changes to the law which governs incorporated societies, which meant board members could be held accountable if something went wrong.
"The recent death of a Whangarei school student who died during a school excursion is a tragic reminder of the responsibility upon us to ensure the rigor of our systems and processes."
The board went on to accuse some critics of sharing "inaccurate information", saying it had led to unnecessary stress and worry for many.
While accepting that communication could have been better, Ms Bond disputed the claim parents were blindsided at the meeting, saying committee members were given information before hand.
She was comfortable with the performance of DK’s general manager.
"No complaints have been received by the DK board in relation to Ms Henderson’s performance in her role as general manager."
Lack of process
DK did not respond to questions from the ODT and referred all comment to the national body.
One complaint brought up by many parents spoken to by the ODT was the "lack of proper procedure".
A Dunedin mother noted the lack of a constitutional annual meeting, and "complete disregard for the democratic processes involved with the association".
At the fractious meeting, basic actions such as adopting reports and minutes were disregarded.
"The new constitution was dated the day before the annual meeting, and changes how voting occurs — it’s a sham and a slap in the face to proper procedure."
In the old constitution, individual kindergarten committees talked with parents at their kindergartens, and decided as a group what they would like to vote on.
The president would then hold the vote.
With the removal of kindergarten committees each member would get their own vote, which the mother described as "unnecessary".
"Why change a system that is not broken?"
A former employee of DK, who worked for the organisation for 16 years, said the removal of committees took away an important link between parents, kindergartens and the community.
The former employee said a change to collective governance between DK and NZK had been attempted in 2020, but did not ultimately go ahead.
In the DK newsletter, the board acknowledged concern and said it was open to having discussions with members to find a "middle ground".
"However, we need to manage this in a way that does not compromise the board in terms of accountability or liability."
The former employee said "it is a high-trust based model to think your general manager is going to take things to a national board".
"Furthermore, it’s a very high trust model to think the board would listen and would act on that, because they are looking from central government, not from inside the local community."
Ms Bond said the board was aware some kindergarten committees were anxious about their future, and how they would be able to positively influence the association.
"This is why the board is hosting engagement hui over the next few months, to provide an opportunity for discussions and sharing of thoughts — these discussions will inform the way in which local voice is best heard in the future governance of DK."
Fight far from over
At the annual meeting a vocal critic of the changes, Michelle De Bono, called for an extraordinary meeting to be held.
More than half of all committees were required to agree before an extraordinary meeting was held.
The threshold was met, and an extraordinary meeting where members will vote whether to split from NZK entirely is set to be held on Friday.
Ms De Bono said they were not about to give up the fight.
"It was a simple beast doing wonderfully until NZK snuck in a slightly ajar back door.
"We are DK; it currently belongs to all of us — we’re not taking these changes lying down."
Kindergartens — what’s to learn
How kindergartens worked before
•Dunedin’s 24 kindergartens governed in part by committees of parents.
• Most did not operate full-time hours.
• Kindergartens owned and largely operated by Dunedin Kindergartens.
What changes have been made or are planned
• Kindergarten committees scrapped
• Plans to move more kindergartens to full-time hours.
• National body steps in to help with governance.
Why are people so mad?
• Parents angry at loss of control.
• They say changes have been pushed through without consultation.
• They say national body is too removed local communities.
