Matipo Primary School has large, park-like grounds on the Te Atatū Peninsula and parent Jamie Lowe says it has "never been in better shape". Photo / Dean Purcell
Matipo Primary School has large, park-like grounds on the Te Atatū Peninsula and parent Jamie Lowe says it has "never been in better shape". Photo / Dean Purcell
A principal whose school community has split into warring factions has resigned.
West Auckland's Matipo School principal Paul Wright has seen a 65 per cent staff turnover since he started in October 2017.
The school's entire board of trustees resigned a year ago and the Ministry of Education appointed acommissioner, Dennis Finn.
Almost 250 parents signed a letter of no confidence in Wright two months ago.
Matipo School principal Paul Wright has resigned after almost 250 parents signed a letter of no confidence in him. Photo / Brett Phibbs, File
At the same time 24 of the school's 40 staff supported Wright and expressed no confidence in the ministry's intervention process.
Wright confirmed yesterday that he will leave at the end of the school year "to pursue other opportunities within education", after seeing the school through an Education Review Office review due in early December.
Finn said he planned to appoint an interim principal to take over until a long-term principal was appointed later next year.
Finn confirmed that he would stay on as commissioner but both men said they could not comment further.
In early September Finn appointed a professional mediator, Janet Scott, to investigate the issues raised in the parents' letter of no confidence. She indicated yesterdaythat she had completed her investigation but could not comment further.
Mediator Judith Scott investigated complaints by parents against Matipo School principal Paul Wright. Photo / Supplied
"The work I undertook for Matipo School was on a confidential basis and I cannot talk about it," she said.
The parents' group that organised the letter of no confidence referred the Herald to their lawyer Simon Mitchell, who said he was taking instructions on a statement which is expected today.
But another parent, Jamie Lowe, said he was "beyond gutted" by Wright's resignation.
"Our school has never been in better shape. If you look at what has been achieved in this school in the last three years, it's extraordinary."
Dennis Finn will stay on as commissioner and appoint an interim principal to replace Paul Wright. Photo / Supplied
He said staff turnover was normal when a new principal came into a school that had been led for 28 years by the same person, in this case former principal Wayne Bainbridge.
"When the new man came in and said, 'This is our vision and this is where we're going,' about half the team left," Lowe said.
"They have been replaced with brilliant people. They have taken everyone off term contracts and put them on fulltime, they have boosted training, and now their teacher turnover is minimal."
He said "a very noisy minority" of parents had "caused carnage", creating tensions which made Wright's position untenable.
"The pressure that man is under, I'm amazed that he has lasted this long and I don't blame him for throwing in the towel," he said.
"Maybe his role was to have all those hard conversations and be hated, and now if we are lucky enough to get anyone else in, they will be handed an amazing platform."
