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The appointment of a commissioner to run Selwyn College is being seen as a step in the right direction by parents and residents concerned about the troubled school's poor reputation.
Education Minister Anne Tolley announced yesterday that she was dispersing the board of trustees and replacing it with a commissioner.
This follows an Education Review Office (ERO) report released in December calling for a higher level of government intervention in the Kohimarama school.
The new commissioner Colleene Roche is currently the school's specialist adviser. She will assume all the functions, power and duties of the board from tomorrow, Mrs Tolley said.
Former board chairman Brent Lewis said yesterday's announcement represented "a great day for Selwyn College".
Mr Lewis was voted off the board in 2007 but had been asking for a commissioner to be appointed for four years.
The commissioner would improve the school's governance and teaching standards, he said.
"Management can get on with managing the school rather than playing politics."
Instead of turning their backs on the troubled high school local parents should start sending their children to Selwyn College "in droves", Mr Lewis said.
Following the recommendations of an ERO report, the previous government appointed a specialist adviser to the school in 2007.
A supplementary ERO report carried out last year noted student achievement at NCEA Level 1 and 2 had improved and praised the new principal Sheryll Ofner's set of school values.
The board of trustees had started to operate more effectively but its progress was "marred by its inability to consult and communicate effectively with some groups in the local community", the report read.
The review office recommended the Secretary for Education increased the level of intervention currently in place under the 1989 Education Act.
"ERO is not confident that the board of trustees has sufficient capacity without external support to govern the school in the interests of all students and the crown," it said.
Mrs Tolley says there had been a history of differences between board members and the community which has had an impact on the operation of the school. Enrolments have declined and many families are opting not to send their children to their local school.
James Hoskins, spokesman for Vision Selwyn, a group of residents and parents who disagreed with the school's direction, spent six years trying to better align the school with the interests of its local catchment area.
He said Mrs Tolley had finished what former Education Minister Steve Maharey had started.
"I'm really impressed that following the ERO report she has made a quick and decisive decision," Mr Hoskins said.
