The role of appointees to the board
Some school boards have appointed members (other than proprietor's appointees).
Appointees may be from organisations or body corporates associated with the school, such as a whānau collective, an Iwi Education Authority, or the Minister of Education.
Section 119 of the Education and Training Act 2020open_in_new covers this, and we're unpacking the role of appointees in this article.
Why would a board have appointees?
These are the most common reasons for a board to have appointees:
To reflect your school's character, a geographical character, or another type of community character.
Ensure your board has appropriate diversity, skills, and expertise to meet its legal responsibilities.
The Minister of Education appoints them for a specified time (this might be a statutory intervention to assist a board).
What is an appointee?
An appointee is a full member of your school board.
They have the same standing, voice, vote, and accountability as any other member.
Your board may decide to appoint them to the role of the presiding member.
They bring the perspective of whoever appointed them to your board's discussions and decision-making. Much like the parent-elected representative brings a community view.
Like all board members, they should vote in a way best suits the interests of the school, its students, and its staff.
They may have additional reporting requirements to the organisation or body-corporate who appointed them.
How does someone get appointed to a board?
The Minister of Education can appoint members to a board at any time.
Body corporates will appoint members in line with your board's election cycle. The appointments will happen at the same time as triennial elections or staggered (mid-term) elections.
Your school board will say how many members can be appointed by an approved body corporate.
Appointed members are on your board for a maximum term of three years.
If an appointee resigns or can no longer fill the position, your board and the body corporate must be informed.
This creates a vacancy for an appointee, and the body corporate will appoint a new board member.
Who can be an appointee to your board?
An approved body corporate will decide who it appoints to your board.
Potential candidates must meet the eligibility criteriaopen_in_new for becoming a board member and sign the eligibility declaration formopen_in_new.
Should an appointee bring concerns and complaints to your board?
No – not directly.
In the same way, parent representatives cannot bring a complaint from the community to your board, and neither can an appointee.
All board members must use the school's internal processes and tikanga if they have any concerns or complaints.
Appointee members bring their knowledge, networks, and experiences to your board.
Regardless of how they joined your board, they must consider what is best for the whole school or kura community, not just the community that appointed them.
Can an appointee be excluded from dealing with certain matters?
An appointee has the same rights as any other board member.
They are entitled to attend all board meetings, including public-excluded discussions, provided they don't have a financial interest in or conflict of interest with the matter being discussed.
If they do, they only need to be excluded from that part of the meeting.
Ideally, they will make your board aware of their financial interest or conflict of interest before the meeting, but that's not always possible.
They may declare and exclude themselves during a discussion.
What is an appointee's relationship with the staff and the school community?
An appointed board member is both a school board member and part of the school community.
While at board meetings, they are part of the employing body of the school.
For the rest of the time, they are just like anybody else. If they are a parent, they will interact with their children's teacher the same as any other parent would.
The same goes for when an appointee is dealing with other members of the school community:
Outside of board meetings, they do not represent or speak on behalf of the board.
This may not be clear to everyone. Be mindful of people who see all actions of board members as if it were official board business, rather than just the actions of members of the community going about their everyday lives.
Questions your board could ask
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How many appointee members do we have on our board?
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Do our appointee members understand their role on the board?
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Does our community understand the role of our appointee members?
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Do our appointee members know the resources and support available to them?
Templates, resources, and references
Click on the link(s) below to access the templates, resources, and references related to this topic.
These may download or open in a separate browser depending on your device.
School board elections website
- Eligibility criteriaopen_in_new
- Eligibility declaration formopen_in_new
- Community member guide to the role of the school boardopen_in_new
Education and Training Act 2020