Town pride hangs on a principal

By JULIE MIDDLETON and DIANA McCURDY

The contrasts were stark. As Alison Annan crossed the square towards Cambridge Town Hall on Wednesday night - hands clasped before her, face in neutral - she was flanked by a tight wrap of dozens of applauding, uniformed students.

Media camera-wielders jostled for pictures of the country's most high-profile principal. A small group of bystanders booed. One of them, Lisa Jenner, hissed: "Look at these deluded people who think she's wonderful and that what she's done is right."

Police intervened as a noisy disagreement between two men - one a supporter, one a critic - threatened to become a scrap.

As Annan entered the packed hall, the crowd of about 200 well-heeled, mainly Pakeha parents jumped to their feet and gave her a standing ovation.

One who pointedly did not was Allan Booth, who stood at the back holding a sign reading: Down with Annan.

The meeting, called to "celebrate Cambridge High School success", was a long emotional eulogy for a fallen principal. When the floor was opened to the public, anyone who criticised or called for scrutiny was soon shut down.

The saga has unleashed remarkable strength of feeling in the proud, friendly Waikato farming town. The whole controversy has crystallised around Annan's forceful, super-confident personality. It is one that tends to polarise: acquaintances say she is capable of being utterly charming one minute and scarily intimidating the next.

In Cambridge, people seem to be either anti-Annan or pro-Annan. There are few "don't knows".

In a town of 14,000, an 1100-pupil high school is a central focal point and everyone claims a connection.

Those who have experienced the hardline, one-strike-and-you're-out Annan are the harshest critics - parents who allege their kids have been dealt with unfairly.

Fervent supporters generally seem to have kids who have achieved, or at least toed the line. Many "are kind of in love with her", says one bemused observer. "They're spellbound. And they just won't see reason."

Lesley Wyatt, founder and editor for 20 years of the weekly Cambridge Edition, suggests views started polarising from 1996, when Cambridge and Annan hit the headlines for the suspension of 14 students accused of smoking cannabis.

In 2002, the town was divided over the wisdom of suspending a 15-year-old boy who responded to the essay topic "How your body betrays you" with a tale about teenage "boners".

By the Friday before last, when Annan resigned, positions were entrenched. "Even the people I know who don't like Annan are regretful of the fact that the town and the school are getting a bad name," sighs Rosemary Hill, former teacher and former Waipa District Council deputy mayor.

The values driving the pro-Annan camp are "the desire for their children and their town to be successful," she says. "There's no doubt she has done some tremendous things for the school."

Among the critics is a feeling that there may have been injustices and anger that parents may have been deceived.

Gavin Marriott, who alleged his special-needs son was not welcome at Cambridge High and had to attend school in Hamilton, says one neighbour no longer speaks to him.

Another person told Marriott Hamilton could keep the special needs children. Marriott says: "There's an elitism that's developed in the town [about the school]. It's like, 'don't you come and tarnish our image'."

In the years before the controversy, the Education Review Office and the New Zealand Qualifications Authority gave the school a clean bill of health. The ERO said in 2000: "Cambridge High is providing a high quality education for its students. Programmes are well planned ... Enthusiastic and knowledgeable teachers enhance curriculum delivery."

The office raised concerns about the school's serious financial and property problems, its communication with the Maori community and its high suspension rate. However, the overall running of the school was praised. "The principal provides sound professional leadership to the teaching staff."

It wasn't until the media examined the school that the happy facade was smashed - TV3's 60 Minutes aired allegations from staff and complaints from the community, and North and South magazine ran on its June cover: "Amazing Alison Annan and the dubious rise of Cambridge High School".

Annan was accused of manipulating results to achieve the school's 100 per cent NCEA pass rate. Former teachers said some pupils were getting credits for tasks such as picking up litter. Other pupils received credits for units completed in two hours - disregarding NZQA's six-week requirement.

Staff who disagreed with Annan's educational or disciplinary policies complained that they were bullied or shifted to different positions. An auditor-general's report slammed as imprudent the purchase of life memberships of the Air New Zealand Koru Club for Annan and her husband. A $16,705 payment over three years for Annan's clothing and personal grooming was judged "inappropriate".

Then there was the fact that Annan and her husband, Ron, were major shareholders in Cambridge International College, a private institution offering a one-year programme to foreign, fee-paying students.

A conflict of interest, cried critics. Ron Annan was the director of Cambridge High's international students' programme and Alison regularly made trips overseas to scout for potential students for Cambridge.

The allegations weren't Annan's first run-in with the media. When the perfectly coiffed tough-talker strode into Cambridge High in 1992 promising to turn it into the top school in the Waikato, it was inevitable there would be friction.

At the time, Cambridge High was a mediocre school attracting 62 per cent of the town's secondary-school-aged students.

Annan had taught at Christchurch Girls' High School and had been an assistant and deputy principal at Otaki College for four years.

She helped Cambridge High to claw its way to second place in the academic league tables and by 2002 the school had 95 per cent of the town's students. The mother of four, who has three grandchildren, was appointed pro-chancellor at Waikato University. She is also a justice of the peace.

But while her hard-eyed determination to improve Cambridge High won accolades, it also prompted criticism - over the "Cannabis High" suspensions and, four years later, when another eight pupils were excluded for first-time offences ranging from cannabis possession to supply.

She later told the Herald there were times when she thought: "Are we going too far?" By June, even the bureaucrats were asking the same question. NZQA quickly scheduled a visit, and ERO's routine review set down for July suddenly assumed a greater significance.

Education Minister Trevor Mallard asked Auditor-General Kevin Brady to examine any possible conflict of interest between Annan and the international college. And the school asked retired chief District Court judge Dame Augusta Wallace to chair an internal investigation into claims of staff bullying.

This time, the outcome of the various reviews was very different. Last week, the NZQA issued a compliance notice instructing the school to close down its "achievement recovery room" - in which students achieved catch-up credits under the supervision of non-teaching staff - or lose its accreditation.

The next day, Dame Augusta warned Annan she was likely to face negative comment as a result of the bullying investigation. Annan then announced her resignation and Education Minister Trevor Mallard appointed an acting principal and two limited statutory managers.

The full extent of the problems at Cambridge High will not be known until reports from Dame Augusta Wallace, the ERO and the NZQA are received.

Whatever they conclude, the Annan saga will remain indelibly printed on the Class of 2004 - and the town of Cambridge.

Parent-Teacher Association head Sarah Fine worries about the impact on students - her 17-year-old, Hannah, felt "bereaved" the day Annan resigned. Several parents told the Weekend Herald they fear their children's qualifications will be questioned.

Many townspeople have heard the radio station-penned "Cambridge school song" doing the rounds. To the tune of the Village People hit YMCA, the lyrics include the lines "NCEA/NCEA/you don't have to work hard/you can be a retard ... "

And Cambridge people fear their home has become the country's laughing stock, rather than an elegant little town with a state school to boast about.