67% of Canterbury trustees planning to re-stand

MEDIA RELEASE
25 March 2013

67% of Canterbury trustees planning to re-stand in school trustee triennial elections

67% of Canterbury school trustees are planning to re-stand in the 2013 triennial trustee elections, with a further 9% yet to make up their mind says the President of the New Zealand School Trustees Association.

This is a very encouraging result says Lorraine Kerr, given that Canterbury schools have experienced a very difficult time over the past couple of years, with some now facing merger or possible closure, as a consequence of earthquake related damage/demographic shifts.

NZSTA, which is undertaking the national promotion and school support for the 2013 triennial elections, recognises that some Canterbury schools face greater difficulties and uncertainties that those normally expected in a triennial election year, and has separately surveyed Canterbury school boards to assess boards’ succession planning and readiness for the triennial election process. Some 117 (42%) responses to the survey have been received.

Those Canterbury trustees deciding to re-stand identified a number of reasons why they have made this decision – 43% identified they are enjoying the experience, 21% feel they have something to offer, and 14% indicated they are re-standing to provide continuity between boards. Other reasons for standing again include unfinished business (8%), and child still at school (7%).

For those 23% that will not be re-standing, 75% identified children leaving/left the school as the reason for not standing, while 4% thought it was time for some “new blood”. Other reasons included feeling it is time to move on to other things (7%) and lack of time (1%).
Overall, 98% of trustees described their experience as a school trustee as very positive (65%) or positive (33%) while 2% described their experience as neither positive nor negative. No negative feelings were expressed about the trustee experience.

92% of trustees considered that the time on the board had benefited them in terms of personal growth, with 98% saying they would not only recommend school trusteeship, but would encourage others to stand.

Canterbury schools have been through a lot over the past couple of years, but despite these very real, and in some cases continuing, difficulties, this survey paints a very positive picture of the value of trusteeship in Canterbury, both for the school and students, and for trusteeship itself, says Lorraine Kerr. Indeed, the data from the Canterbury survey provides a very similar pattern to that for the rest of the country, and provides a very positive outlook for the triennial election process in May 2013.

The common date for the 2013 triennial trustee elections is set for 30 May 2013.

Ends

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