Fees set for trustees

Press, 23 February 1989, Page 2

Fees set for trustees

Wellington reporter School board of trustee members will be paid $55 for a half-day or evening meeting, up to a maximum of 10 meetings a year. The Minister of Education, Mr Lange, has announced details of the situation that will apply after the April elections for boards of trustees to replace school committees and boards of governors in all State primary and secondary schools. Any parent or caregiver of primary or secondary schoolchildren would be able to stand for one of the five parent positions on a school board of trustees, he said.

These boards would have an important role in determining the aims and priorities of a school and its over-all management. It was important that parents from all walks of life should stand.

Mr Lange said the meeting fee would go some way to encouraging parents from all backgrounds to stand for their children’s board of trustees.

It would help parents meet costs such as travel or childminding. The chairman of the board would receive an extra allowance of $l5 a meeting for up to 10 meetings, he said.

Boards of trustees would also include the school principal and an elected teacher, both of whom would be paid verifiable expenses for board meetings. Secondary school boards would also include an elected student representative who would be paid expenses for meetings.