School kids going without to pay the commissioner

The Ministry of Education-appointed commissioner at Pamapuria School has cost the school more than $200,000. And that has outraged at least one Pamapuria parent.

"You could argue that the ministry's response to the situation that led to the appointment of the commissioner was excessive, and now we find that this process has cost money that should have been used to support the school, its children and their education," he said.

The ministry, which has yet to respond to an Official Information Act request from the Northland Age, last week told Northland MP Mike Sabin that costs that had been covered by the school, including fees, travel and accommodation, amounted to $180,036 for the period from the commissioner's appointment on August 9, 2012, to the end of last year. The costs for the first six months of this year were estimated at $26,358.

Ministerial appointees to a new board of trustees were approved on March 4, and the commissioner has now been directed to set a date for the election.

The commissioner's fee was $100 per hour, the memorandum of understanding allowing for a maximum of 40 hours per month.

The parent, who spoke to the Northland Age on the condition of anonymity, said the school was effectively broke at the end of last year.

"It was running on deficit," he said, adding that he knew of even modest cheques that had been dishonoured.

And worse, money that had been raised in the community specifically for other purposes, such as a school camp and sports gear, had been used to help pay the commissioner's bill.

"This wasn't taxpayer funding. This was money that came from the community, and it may never be recouped," he said.

"Some of it was deposited in a school account by children. It should have been tagged but it wasn't, and now it's gone, to the detriment of the children, their families and the school's financial reputation."

He was still struggling to understand why a commissioner had been appointed in the first place.

"The trustees have never been told that they did anything wrong," he said.

"There has been no public condemnation of them, and they were never told why they were suspended, then fired. They were just removed.

"There is a mood of despondency at the school that should never have happened. A lot of the stress that has been generated was totally unnecessary." He also argued that the commissioner had done no more than would be expected of a competent chairman of trustees, who would generally cost a school a few hundred dollars a year, as opposed to tens of thousands.