Clock Is Ticking For School Trustee Nominations

The Clock Is Ticking For School Trustee Nominations

Strong leaders make strong schools. People who are considering becoming a school trustee are urged to hand in their nomination forms as the clock is ticking towards the deadline.

Nominations for the 2010 School Trustee Elections close at midday on Friday 23 April. More than 15,000 people are needed to form boards at 2,460 state and state integrated schools throughout New Zealand.

National Election Project Manager, Elaine Hines says the nomination period is drawing to a close with the majority of schools reporting nominations were coming in slowly.

“Previous elections have shown that a slow start is often followed by a last minute rush of nominations coming through in the final days”, says Elaine. “As schools have re-opened for the second school term, we are expecting more nominations over the next few days.”

However, Elaine would like schools to be encouraging people interested in standing to get their nominations in as early as possible, rather than leaving it to the last minute.

“The earlier the better” says Elaine, “and today or tomorrow would be great!”

Over 100,000 people have taken on the trusteeship roles since self managing schools were introduced in 1989. Most of these have found the position extremely rewarding. A recent survey shows 60% of current trustees are looking to stand for another three years, but there are still high numbers of new trustees needed.

Trustees do not have to be parents, or have children at the school they stand for. What they do need is a commitment to children and education and the skills to help the school improve student achievement.

It is essential to every school to get the candidates with the right mix of skills to stand for election.

“It’s an important position and there are particular skills that all schools need. Some of those skills are passion and energy, people skills, honesty and integrity.” says Elaine.

Financial know-how and strategic thinking are also valuable. Getting a blend of skills among members is important and something for voters to consider.

The theme of the 2010 School Trustee Elections is “Strong leaders make strong schools” says Elaine, and we need the skills and experiences of the wider community to realise our theme – and our vision of all students achieving to a high level.

Anybody interested in finding out more should contact their local school for further information.

Key dates

Nominations close Noon 23 April 2010
Polls close Noon 7 May 2010
Results declared 13 May 2010

Ends

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