Integrated schools warned off direct contact with Minister

In an e-newsletter, APIS chief executive Kevin Shore said that the association itself is responsible for managing the relationship for state-integrated schools with the Minister.

“I would emphasise to proprietors that APIS is your organisation and is the body through which you should first communicate if you have issues you want to raise with the Minister,” Dr Shore wrote.  

“Minister [Erica] Stanford has been very clear that she expects proprietors to raise concerns and negotiate with her through APIS, so please ensure you contact our office before entering any dialogue or communication with the Minister.”

Dr Shore wrote that the relationship between state-integrated schools and the Minister is “crucial and as has happened in the past can be easily diminished if proprietors and stakeholders communicate directly with the Minister”.

APIS will be meeting Ms Stanford in mid-July, Dr Shore noted.

“We have placed on the agenda for discussion with the Minister Policy Two funding, use of surplus school board funds for property development, investigating mechanisms for supporting the training of special character teachers and protecting special character within the process of curriculum change and reform,” he explained.

“APIS will also raise one or two issues on behalf of individual proprietors.”

In the e-newsletter, Dr Shore said that APIS has noted that, under Minister Stanford’s watch, decisions on maximum roll increase applications “are being made more quickly, often in approximately six months, as opposed to 15 months or more as had been the case. APIS views this as a positive development”.

Dr Shore also stated that someone in the Education Review Office “has indicated that the structured literacy programmes that are already established in some of our primary schools are making a positive difference. Significant investment is being made by the Government in reading, writing and numeracy and that has continued in this Budget”.

“As someone who is an advocate for equity in education, I know the importance of literacy and numeracy in the wider success of students at school and in life,” he wrote. “However, our teachers will need support, and I hope that the required professional development promised by the Minister will be delivered and that it meets the needs of our teaching staff.”

FULL STORY

NZCEO eNewsletter (Kōtui: School and Policy Updates)