Thursday, December 16, 2010

Primary School Boards ofManagement -SchoolDays.ie: Parents ...

National schools have had
boards of management since
1975. The Education Act, 1998
puts the system on a statutory
basis and sets out the
responsibilities of the boards.
National schools are not obliged
to have boards of management.
The patron of the school has the
right to decide whether or not to
have one. In practice, most
national schools do have boards.
Under the Education Act, 1998,
the patron is obliged "for the
purposes of ensuring that a
recognised school is managed in
a spirit of partnership" to
appoint, where practicable, a
Board of Management. The
composition of the Board of
Management is to be agreed
between school patrons, national
associations of parents, school
management organisations,
teacher representatives and the
Minister.
The board is appointed by the
patron. In making appointments,
the patron must comply with
Ministerial directions about
gender balance.
If the patron decides that it is
not practicable to appoint a
board, he/she must give reasons
to the parents, teachers, staff
and the Minister but he/she
cannot be forced to appoint
one.
Functions of the Board
The board's main function is to
manage the school on behalf of
the patron and for the benefit of
the students and to provide an
appropriate education for each
student at the school.
The role and method of
operation of Boards of
Management of primary schools
was agreed by the Department,
the school managers, parents
and teachers in 2003.
The board must have a
procedure for informing parents
about its activities – this could
include an annual report.
Activities on the Board
Essentially, the board manages
the school. Among other things:
· It has responsibility for
drawing up the school plan
and for ensuring that it is
implemented.
It appoints the principal, the
teachers and other staff.
It must ensure that the school
fulfills its functions as set out
in the Education Act, 1998.
It must promote contact
between the school, the
parents and the community
and must facilitate and give all
reasonable help to a parents'
association in its formation
and its activities.
·It has overall responsibility
for the school's finances. It is
obliged to have
comprehensive insurance
cover for the school. It must
keep proper accounts, which
may be audited by the
Department of Education and
Science and/or the
Comptroller and Auditor
General. Its annual accounts
must be available to the
patron and the school
community.
Who is on the Board
The composition of the Board of
Management for schools with
more than one teacher is
· Two direct nominees of the
patron
· Two parents of children
enrolled in the school (one
mother and one father) elected
by the parents
· The principal
· One other teacher elected by
the teaching staff.
· Two extra members agreed by
the representatives of the
patron, teachers and parents.
There are particular rules for
Boards of Management for
convent and monastery schools
in relation to the teacher
representatives. If the principal is
a Religious, the elected teacher-
member must be a lay person
and, if the principal is a lay
person, it is recommended that
the elected teacher-member be
a Religious. In one-teacher
schools, there is one direct
nominee of the patron, one
teacher representative, one
parent and one extra member
proposed by these
nominees.There are certain
criteria set out for choosing the
two community representatives
on the Board of Management.
The people appointed must
have a commitment to the
ethos of the school. In the
case of Catholic schools, they
must have an understanding
of and commitment to
Catholic education as outlined
in the Deed of Trust for
Catholic Schools
For Church of Ireland
schools, they must be
members of that Church; in
Presbyterian schools, they
must also be church members
and in Muslim schools they
should be members of the
Muslim community in Ireland
(in all cases the patron of the
school can decide otherwise).
For Educate Together Schools
they must have a commitment
to the ethos of the school.
They must have skills that are
complementary to the board's
requirements
They must be interested in
education but normally
should not be parents of
students currently attending
the school or teachers
currently on the staff
In Gaeltacht schools and
Gaelscoileanna, they are
expected to have a good
knowledge of the Irish
language.
The need to maintain a
gender balance must be a
consideration
The patron appoints the
Chairman of the Board, usually
the local parish priest in the case
of Catholic schools.
The Rules set out in detail how
the parents' representatives are
to be chosen, including the
notice to be given to all parents,
how replacements are chosen,
etc.
Terms of Office of the Board
The term of office for a board is
four years and members can
hold office only for four years
although members are eligible
for reappointment when their
term of office expires

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