Casual vacancy for a student representative
Tūranga wātea pokerehū mō tētahi kanohi ākongaopen_in_new
A casual vacancy for any board member occurs when they cannot complete their term on a board.
Student representatives bring a unique perspective to board discussions, so your board should do everything possible to fill the casual vacancy.
Keep reading to learn what steps your board should take if it has a casual vacancy for its student representative position.
Note: If your board has co-opted another student onto the board, confirm that this vacancy is for the student elected representative. This article provides information related to the student representative position only. The co-opted student is treated the same as any other co-opted board member, regardless of their status as a student.
How does a casual vacancy happen?
A casual vacancy happens when a student representative does any one of the following:
- Resigns in writing to the board
- Misses three board meetings in a row without “prior leave”
- Leaves the school or is no longer enrolled full-time at the school
- Dies or is incapacitated
- Is no longer eligible to be a board memberopen_in_new
- Is removed by the Minister because of non-compliance with the code of conduct for school boardsopen_in_new.
A casual vacancy can also occur if, after an election, no nominations were received for the student representative position.
Do you have to fill the casual vacancy?
Yes.
To ensure the student voice is heard, your board is required by its constitution to have a student representative.
How do you fill the casual vacancy?
Your board needs to set the by-election date and appoint a returning officer by passing a resolution.
When setting the election date, please note that the election process takes 31 days (remember to take school holidays into account).
You can use the Election Planner Toolopen_in_new to input your board’s chosen election date, and it will generate a timeline for all critical dates during the process.
Once appointed by your board, the returning officer should registeropen_in_new on the School Board Elections website and download the Elections handbookopen_in_new.
This handbook details the legislated timetable and election processes they must follow.
Be sure to give your returning officer a letter of appointment, setting out the election date, the number of vacancies to be filled (if you have an alternative constitution requiring more than one student representative), and their fee (if any).
Once the vacancy has been filled, update your board member registeropen_in_new and complete the School Board Updatesopen_in_new form.
After a voting election, the roll and voting papers should be taken to the district court.
Are student representative by-elections funded?
There is no specific election funding for student elections because it is part of your school’s annual operational grant.
Therefore, your board should budget every year for the annual student election and a potential by-election, including actual and reasonable costs, which includes remuneration costs for the returning officer.
Questions your board could ask
- Do we understand the requirements and process for filling a casual vacancy?
- Have we ensured adequate funding in our budget for both the annual student representative election and any potential by-election?
- How do we support staff in promoting the importance of a student representative and the by-election process?
Templates, resources, and references
Click on the link(s) below to access this topic’s templates, resources, and references.
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Links from us
- Casual vacancy of elected board member flowchartopen_in_new
- Guide to board structureopen_in_new
- Board member registeropen_in_new
School board elections website
- School board elections websiteopen_in_new
- Register your electionopen_in_new
- Elections Handbookopen_in_new
- Election Planner Tool open_in_new
The Ministry of Education
Education and Training Act 2020