Waikato School Board Fires Teacher For Alleged Serious Misconduct, Steps Down

Saturday, 2 November 2024, 5:37 pm
Article: RNZ

Board members of a North Waikato school that fired a teacher for alleged serious misconduct during a trip for its under-15 rugby team say they have been forced to step down in the wake of their decision.

In a letter to the school community on Friday, the four parent representatives on the board of Onewhero Area School in Tuakau said they stood by their decision to dismiss the teacher and had resigned, effective immediately.

They also said they had been threatened, accused of racism and endured months of scrutiny.

"By its nature, serious misconduct must be serious, and based on the information we are privy to - despite intense pressure and very personal attacks - we cannot in good conscience reinstate this staff member as a teacher in our school," they said.

"Each of us, as volunteers, finds it disappointing and distressing that our good faith actions have led to threats and accusations of racism."

The school's board meeting on Wednesday was attended by staff and community members who demanded "the full resignation of the board and full reinstatement of the dismissed staff member", they said.

"As a result of the meeting the board agreed, collectively, we stand by our decision to dismiss a teacher for serious misconduct for an [Education Outside the Classroom] trip that was held with both Tuakau College and Onewhero Area School U15 Rugby teams, of which the details are required to be confidential."

Education Outside The Classroom is part of the national curriculum and the Ministry of Education has a website with guidelines for schools that details the policy and procedures they must follow.

The board members said the teacher was dismissed for serious misconduct, the details of which remained confidential for legal reasons.

He was a highly regarded community member, they said.

"The easy decision would have been to turn a blind eye, but we do not believe this would have been ethical, safe or legal and could come at a cost to student safety, which we were not prepared to accept.

"While the news of our resignation may delight those who attended our Board meeting on Wednesday night, we are devastated that it has come to this as we have acted with the very best of intentions - to uphold the law and the teaching code of conduct and to protect the welfare of our students.

"As Board members, we were educated in governance and understood our role and responsibilities to our students and our staff.

"We think it is important to reiterate that when serious concerns were raised about the staff member's conduct, appropriate actions were taken. An initial investigation was conducted by the then-principal."

The school's principal Rebecca Bills resigned mid-October.

The board members said the dismissal of the teacher followed an employment dispute process in which the principal determined the concerns were of a "sufficiently serious nature", and the matter was referred to the board.

They said the board sought advice from the NZ School Boards Association, then engaged an independent employment lawyer to conduct the investigation and report the findings. Based on those, the teacher was dismissed.

The Ministry of Education had supported their decision, they said.

"We believe there should be a full Ministry of Education investigation into how the school got to this point where student achievement, safety and wellbeing was not at the centre of leadership, decision-making and advocacy.

"We are also concerned that this lack of focus on what is best for students has allowed for agitation and disengagement, and escalating student behaviour concerns at such a critical time of year for our senior students."

In a response, the Ministry of Education said they were aware of the issues.

"The Ministry is aware that concerns were raised at a community meeting on Wednesday night. However, we were not aware until midafternoon today (Friday) that the board had resigned.

"We will follow up with the school first thing on Monday to determine what further support they need. Our top priority will be to ensure there is minimal disruption to teaching and learning."

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