Hiccup with campaign for school elections

Press, 9 February 1989, Page 6

Hiccup with campaign for school elections

The first moves have not been smooth in the election campaign for the new boards of trustees which will run schools after October 1. The postal elections for all board members, including parents and student representatives, will be held in April. Principals received election information from the Education Department on Tuesday, and were given two days to find a returning officer and notify the department. No information had

been given on payment for a job that could take several weeks, said the secretary of the New Zealand Educational Institute, Ms Rosslyn Noonan. “If no nomination is received by the department, the principal is deemed to be the returning officer.”

That could lead to many serious possibilities of conflict because the principal was to be a board member as of right, Ms Noonan said. The job of the returning officer included

compilation of the electoral roll, determining the validity of nominations, ruling on informal votes, and possibly deciding a successful candidate by lot. “Principals have important educational tasks connected with bringing in ‘Tomorrow’s Schools.’ The board of trustees election is a purely administrative responsibility of the department.” The director-general has now agreed to extend the date for returning officer nominations to February 17.