A commissioner and members of the community who were appointed to run the boards of trustees at Caversham and Waitati Schools for the past four years will be stood down, the Ministry of Education has announced.
Both schools will begin preparations for board of trustees elections next term, free from ministry intervention.
A commissioner was appointed by the ministry to govern Caversham School in 2004 when insufficient nominations were received to form a board at their board of trustees elections.
The agreement between the commissioner and the Ministry of Education carried three special duties for the commissioner. These were to identify the factors which contributed to the school not receiving enough nominations to form a board, to put in place strategies to mitigate
those factors, and to recommend future governance models for Caversham School.
In the case of Waitati School, a 2004 Education Review Office (ERO) supplementary review described the school's board of trustees as "dysfunctional and unable to establish policy, procedures and practices to guide board operations''.
In the same year, the Secretary of Education dissolved the board and the principal resigned.
In August 2004, the ministry appointed a commissioner to govern the school and an acting principal was employed in January 2005. Since September 2005, a ministry-appointed board has governed Waitati School.
Subsequent ERO reports have shown both schools had worked hard to address the issues which led them to ministry intervention. Now, the Ministry of Education believes both schools can be effectively governed by elected boards of trustees.
A Ministry of Education spokesman said elections could be held at any time.
The ministry-appointed commissioner at Caversham School and the ministry-appointed board of trustees at Waitati School would organise the elections and retain their authority until elected boards were in place.
Colin Brown, a former Ministry of Education commissioner who was appointed to Waitati School in 2004 and Caversham School from 2005 to 2007, said he was pleased both schools were ready to govern themselves again.
"I'm delighted to hear they [the schools] have reached a point where they are able to move back to an elected board.''
