June 17, 2014
Sacked kura board challenges ministry
The ousted board of a Northland kura is taking the Education Ministry to court after it was replaced with a commissioner.
The ministry took over Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Whangaroa after receiving complaints from a faction of parents upset that the board had sacked principal Louisa Mutu at the end of last year.
Former chair Terry Smith says the board stood by that decision taken last year, and it had worked to stabilise the school.
But he says the ministry found a flaw in last year’s board election, and rather than working through the problem it came down hard.
Last week’s intervention caught the board by surprise.
"We’re managing, we're governing the school. The school is fine the education of our tamariki is fine so why put a commissioner in. Thats really heavyhanded, basically to take over the whole governance, management of the kura when the board was doing a fine job, the whanau was doing a great job so from our perspective thats quite over the top," he says.
Terry Smith says the election process was open and transparent, even if it didn’t follow the fine print in the rules.
FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH TERRY SMITH CLICK ON THE LINK
https://secure.zeald.com/uma/play_podcast?podlink=MTkyMTc=
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