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Calling all mums and dads!
As a trustee on your local school Board, you have an amazing opportunity to shape the future of your school, to become more involved in your child’s education and to leave a lasting legacy for your community.
In March 2007 parents from all over the country will vote to elect more than 14,000 parent representatives to govern each school through its Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees is primarily responsible for providing governance, and overseeing how the school is run. By assisting and supporting the principal, the Board helps define the long term aspirations and strategy of the school.
The process for being elected to the Board of Trustees:
Step 1: Grab a nomination form
Fill in the standard elections nomination form. If you have not been sent a nomination form, you can ring the school office or download one from the New Zealand School Trustees Association.
Step 2: Get nominated
You do not need to be a parent of a pupil at the school to be elected to the Board of Trustees, as long as you are nominated by a parent whose child is a pupil. This person needs to fill in their details on the form.
Step 3: Fill it in
The key pieces of information you need to know for filling in the nomination form are:
- Date of election: This will commonly be 29 March 2007
- Name of election: You will be standing in the Parent Representative Election.
- Eligibility: You do not have to be a parent to be elected, but there are a few requirements for eligibility (such as not being bankrupt). Find out if you are eligible to stand
- Details of the person making the nomination: This is the person who nominates you to stand for the Board of Trustees.This person must be a parent of a pupil at the school.
Step 4: Letting people know about you
When you return your nomination form, you need to include a short statement letting people know about you and why you are interested in being on the Board. The statement should not be longer than 400 words. This statement will be posted to each parent who is voting in the election.
Step 5: Get it in on time
The nomination form plus the short statement needs to be returned by posting or dropping the form to the school, marked to the attention of the returning officer. You can return your nomination form to the school any time from 1 March - 15 March.
All nominations must be received no later than noon on 15 March 2007.
Step 6: Let the voting begin
The returning officer will then send out a voting paper with each of the candidate’s statements to each parent. Once completed, parents must send the voting paper back to the returning officer by 29 March 2007. The results will be announced on 4 April 2007. The Boards will take office the following day on 5 April 2007.
For more information, visit www.trustee-election.co.nz or call 0800 ELECTION (0800 353 284).
