Employment dispute at Invercargill school resolved
A ‘‘relationship breakdown’’ at St Joseph’s Primary School in Invercargill was the catalyst for the appointment of a statutory manager in July.
However, on Monday, the statutory manager declined to outline in detail who was involved in the breakdown or what had caused the issue.
Information received from an Official Information Act request outlined correspondence between the school’s board and the Ministry of Education.
Those documents revealed there were issues relating to human resource management procedures and practices, managing principal performance and relationships between board members, professional leaders and or other staff.
Sections of the documents were redacted, so it is unclear who the parties involved in the ‘‘relationship breakdown’’ were.
According to correspondence between Education Ministry staff from June 26, the school’s board had received formal complaints and had engaged a lawyer to carry out an investigation.
An unidentified party was ‘‘unhappy with the findings of investigation by the board and considers allegations could be construed as serious misconduct’’.
In the memo, Otago/Southland director of education Julie Anderson stated the St Joseph’s school board had been unable to manage the relationship breakdown.
‘‘[The] Board chair believes (and NZSTA [New Zealand School Trustees Association] adviser agrees with him) that the board is unable to deal with the issues before them.
‘‘They have lost two board members and principal is on sick leave because of the situation. Sick leave taken with no reference or notice to the chair.’’
The principal has since returned to work.
Anderson also relayed information that the school’s proprietor was aware ‘‘personal issues were impacting on relationships at school’’.
Three key issues were identified that the statutory manager would have to deal with to mitigate.
These included the potential resignation of the principal, the board, and divisions created in the staff/school community.
On July 7, The Southland Times reported a limited statutory manager had been appointed to the board of the school to deal with an undisclosed employment issue.
For the past two months, Christchurch employment law specialist Madeleine Hawkesby has been working in the role.
Limited statutory managers are appointed to resolve issues within schools if there are risks to its regular operation, or the educational performance of its students.
According to the Education Act, limited statutory managers are appointed for a period of up to 12 months, or until the issues they deal with are resolved.
When contacted for comment on Friday, Hawkesby said while she could not disclose details about the situation, there were currently no grievances or personal complaints before the board.
Her assessment was that any employment matters and/or complaints had been resolved, but she declined to specify what had been resolved or what action had been taken.
Stuff had asked what the nature of the personal grievances was, who laid them and whether the principal was involved in the employment dispute.
Hawkesby declined to answer, saying she was not at liberty to discuss personal employment matters due to privacy obligations.
‘‘In addition, there is no risk to the educational performance of students, and student learning remains the focus as the school’s core function.’’
However, Hawkesby remains in the role and will continue to report to the ministry. She said she did not no how much longer she would remain as a limited statutory manager, as ‘‘that is a decision for the ministry to make’’.