AQW 18399/17-22


Ms Kellie Armstrong
Alliance Party
Strangford


Tabled Date: 05/05/2021
Answered On Date: 12/05/2021
Priority Written: No


Question:
To ask the Minister of Education to outline the process his Department will undertake to remove a governor of a controlled school if that governor is found to be abusing their position by bullying staff, not declaring conflicts of interest and wilfully disrupting both the operation of the board and staff team.


Answer:
Any complaint about a governor should in the first instance be raised with the Board of Governors.
Responsibility for taking decisions on school based matters (including complaints) rests with the Board of Governors, unless there has been a failure on the part of the Board of Governors to comply with some requirement in education legislation. Investigating and responding to complaints about schools is the responsibility of each school’s governing body.
If the complaints procedure becomes exhausted, there is a right to refer the matter to the Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman. The Ombudsman will, however, will only consider a case once the school’s internal complaints process has been fully exhausted.
The schools’ Scheme of Management will have provision for the declaration of pecuniary interests by governors where they should disclose openly the nature of their interest as soon as practicable after the commencement of a meeting. They shall withdraw from the meeting during consideration or discussion of that matter and any vote on any question related to that matter.
Governors are expected to work together to fulfil the Board of Governors statutory functions in relation to the school. The Board of Governors is accountable for ensuring that its decisions support the best interests of the school and its pupils.
It must also ensure that its decisions are consistent with the principles of corporate and collective responsibility as noted in the Governor Guide. This notes that the primary purpose of the school governor, acting collectively as a member of the Board of Governors, is to ensure that the school is properly managed and delivers high quality education for all its pupils.
Apart from the school Principal or elected teacher governor, a governor ceases to be a board member if they: subsequently become an employee of any school for which the board of governors is appointed, is subsequently convicted of an offence and sentenced by a court or subsequently become bankrupt or the subject of a Bankruptcy Restrictions Order.
A member of the board shall be considered to have resigned their membership and shall cease to be a member where - there is an absence from three consecutive meetings, or for six months consecutively, whichever is the greater period, unless the failure to attend was occasioned by illness or other unavoidable cause.