Call for head of review to quit

Christchurch school principals are calling for the head of a review of disaster response processes to step down.

It was feared Dame Karen Sewell’s previous role as an adviser to former education minister Hekia Parata during the 2012 school mergers and closures could tarnish the review’s credibility.

Education Minister Nikki Kaye, who announced the review on Monday, said two separate reviews had potentially been confused. The review of the ministry’s nationwide emergency management processes, headed by Sewell and former Civil Defence director John Hamilton, would consider whether the department had learned from an earlier review of its processes following the 2011 Canterbury earthquake.

‘‘The composition, and who’s on that [review] team is a critical factor.’’ Canterbury West Coast Principals’ Association president Phil Holstein

The November 2016 earthquake and recent Edgecumbe flood gave the review more urgency.

A separate working group would consider the ministry’s engagement process for school closures and mergers after it was recommended by the Ombudsman in June. Sewell would not be involved.

Kaye said she was confident in Secretary for Education Iona Holsted’s appointment of Sewell to the disaster response review.

‘‘This is a review of the ministry’s emergency management systems that may be required following not just earthquakes, but multiple types of disasters, including tsunami or flooding.’’

She added Holsted was happy to talk with anyone who had concerns about the review, ‘‘its scope or people involved in it’’.

Canterbury West Coast Principals’ Association president Phil Holstein said it would still be better, as a ‘‘general principle’’, to have someone entirely independent of the ministry heading a review of its procedures.

While he did not take issue with Sewell specifically, experience with other review processes highlighted the need to ‘‘get it started on the right foot’’.

‘‘The composition, and who’s on that [review] team, is a critical factor. If it’s independent and removed from any perceived conflict of interest it goes better.

Sewell could not be reached for comment.