Holiday programme reviewed
GEORGE Street Normal School’s board of trustees is doing a partial turnaround on closing the Georgies holiday programme and is in discussions with a thirdparty provider.
But parents are still unhappy about the situation and are working on a petition signalling no confidence in the board of the Dunedin school.
In a letter to parents, sent last week, board chairwoman Greer Harper said it met recently to consider the dissatisfaction of parents about the closure of the programme.
‘‘We discussed again the reasons why we made the decision to discontinue the Georgies holiday programme and whether your letter of complaint and the points of view raised therein, altered the board’s rationale for making the decision in December 2021.
‘‘Having taken this opportunity to reflect further, the board remains satisfied that both the process we employed and the decision we made, were appropriate, not done or made in haste and were consistent with our governance responsibilities to all of the students and staff of George Street Normal School.’’
However, she said the board had heard the continued pleas from families to continue operating a holiday programme at George Street Normal School.
To meet that need, the board was continuing discussions with a thirdparty provider.
‘‘We hope to be able to make an announcement about that in the coming weeks.
‘‘As we now need to look forward to a positive 2021, the board will not enter into any further correspondence in relation to this matter.’’
A parent, who declined to be named, said a large group of parents was still unhappy, despite the board’s attempts to resolve the issue, because it felt the board had not done its due diligence and the situation would not have happened if the board had properly consulted with parents.
‘‘Some parents have expressed that they may remove children from school because of a lack of confidence in the board of trustees.’’
She said the group was now discussing options, including a petition signalling no confidence in the board.