Changing the number of parent representatives
Te panoni i te maha o ngā kanohi o ngā mātuaopen_in_new
Changing the number of parent representatives on your board is a process that involves altering your board's constitution.
All boards of state and state-integrated schools have five parent representatives unless the board has an alternative constitution.
Section 121 of the Education and Training Actopen_in_new sets out how a board can do this.
Why would you change the number of parent representatives on your board?
There are various reasons why a board may change its number of parent representatives.
Small schools with only a few staff and students may find it difficult to fill all the positions.
A school may have grown considerably, and the board may need to increase the number of representatives to reflect the community's size better.
Whatever the reason, please contact us for help making an informed decision before proceeding.
What changes can be made?
You can change the number of parent representative positions on your board to no fewer than three and no more than seven.
You cannot do this if your board has already started the process for triennial or mid-term elections (if your board uses a staggered election cycle).
You will need to wait until the election process has finished before making any changes.
Reducing the number of parent reps on a state-integrated school board may also mean reducing the number of proprietor's appointees.
This can only be done with the agreement of the proprietor.
How does your board make the changes?
First, your board must notify your school community that you are holding a meeting to discuss changing your constitution, as they have the right to attend.
Make sure the topic is included in your board meeting agenda and discussed in the public section of your board meeting.
If your board decides to proceed, you need to make a resolution and record it in your meeting minutes.
What happens next?
Once your board has altered your constitution, you need to:
- Update your board member registeropen_in_new and complete the School Board Updatesopen_in_new form
- Hold a by-election to fill any casual vacancy created by the board increasing the number of parent representative positions (selection is not an option in these circumstances)
- Email the Ministry of Education and GovHub to notify us of the changes using the following suggested wording:
The [insert school name] board [insert school profile number] resolved at a meeting on [insert date] to alter the number of parent representatives on its board to [insert number].
Questions your board could ask
- Have we sought advice from GovHub on changing the number of parent representatives?
- Have we notified the school community about the meeting where we'll be discussing the change?
- Have we recorded our decision in our minutes?
- Have we notified the Ministry of Education and GovHub of our changes?
- Have we run a by-election to fill the positions?
- Have we updated our board member registeropen_in_new and completed the School Board Updatesopen_in_new form?
Templates, resources, and references
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Links from us
Ministry of Education
Education and Training Act 2020