‘Relationship matters’ still a ‘key focus’ for St Peter’s

A standoff appears to remain between the board and senior management of St Peter’s College in Gore.

The school was placed into the limited statutory management of lawyer Nicola Hornsey earlier this year after the school’s board of trustees sought Ministry of Education support to govern the school.

In May, principal Tara Quinney told Stuff she had a dysfunctional relationship with board chairwoman Ruth Mitchell and would not be able to work with her in the future.

Attempts to contact her at that time by the Otago Daily Times were unsuccessful.

Mrs Quinney told Stuff in May she was worried about the board and its conduct after it attempted to organise a meeting with four senior staff management and not involve Mrs Quinney.

The meeting never happened and Mrs Quinney said the board was new and needed training to understand their role.

Mrs Quinney said she would not resign and the school was in good heart. It was a coeducation school with about 450 pupils.

Ms Hornsey said some progress had been made.

‘‘We are four months into the intervention and have made good progress in terms of board meeting processes and board members have readily engaged in training opportunities and school and church activities.

‘‘Relationship matters naturally take longer to resolve and this remains the key focus of the intervention.’’

The intervention would be formally reviewed in March next year at which time, the appropriate level of the intervention would be considered.

In Ms Hornsey’s intervention progress report released yesterday, she said the distinction between governance and management was understood, however an effective communication system had yet to be implemented for management to provide the board with the necessary assurances required to discharge its many obligations.

‘‘A highlevel governance model requires a high level of trust and confidence to be effective. Until this trust and confidence is achieved, board members will, understandably, continue to ask questions about the daytoday management of the school,’’ the report said.

The report said the Board encouraged staff training and supported the appointment of an additional teacher aide to assist with achieving this goal.

But relationships could be better.

‘‘The relationship between the principal and other board members remains strained and continues to pose a risk.’’

Hard copies of board meeting are being posted in the staff room to help with communication.

An external facilitator would be engaged to assist with the consultation process for both the strategic and annual planning processes.

The report said the board was improving its communications to the school community.

Several letters of complaint have been received by the board and steps have been taken to address the concerns.

Once the annual implementation plan for next year has been developed, a cohesive performance and professional development plan will be negotiated with the principal so that progress against the plan can be monitored and reviewed on a more structured basis, the report said.

A recent survey of pupils is set to be discussed at a board meeting next month.

The report showed pupils continued to be offered a wide range of opportunities.

Mrs Quinney could not be reached yesterday and Mrs Mitchell referred comment to Ms Hornsey.