Southland policeman Chris Haines has been named New Zealand School Trustees Association’s new deputy president.
Chris Haines has been on the NZSTA national executive for two years, was previously on the National Council for three
years, and has been a trustee on Southland’s Riverton Primary School board since 1992.
He says he is looking forward to the next challenge with his involvement with trusteeship, and hopes that the
self-management of schools will build further on its success.
“The whole philosophy of self management of schools is one I support. Boards are representative of their school
community, and they are the ones who know what is best for that community.
“It is all about parent choice – all parents are given the choice on who they want to run their school, with those
parents making decisions based on what is best for the school. ”
Chris Haines says he didn’t intend to be involved in trusteeship as long as he has been. However, he says he has
continued his service due to the satisfaction of being able to play an active role in decisions that affect his
children’s education.
“I really had no intention of becoming so involved in school trusteeship – but once you see what you can achieve by
being involved it is hard to let it go.
“In fact it is a bit ironic that I am playing such an active role in education. When I was deciding on a career path, I
actively tried to stay away from teaching because my family is full of them, and I thought it was time for us to branch
out.”
He says those involved in education agree that the concept of self governance and self management of schools is a
successful model, and it is important this success is built on.
“We have come along way since 1989, and it is wonderful to see what schools are able to achieve through self-management.
Schools have been able to achieve excellent results in a variety of areas including property and introducing innovative
programmes to get the best out of their kids.”
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For more information contact Chris Haines, phone (025) 387-903.