ESC wants interim school boards made permanent
Interim school governance boards at States schools will be made permanent, if plans from Education, Sport & Culture are approved.
It also wants to set up a special committee to look at devolving authority to the boards concerning finance, human resources and facilities management, each of which currently sits under Policy & Resources.
ESC has prepared a report which will see the interim school governance boards taking over from school committees, probably at the end of next year or in early 2025.
Existing school committees would be discontinued at around the same time.
The committee plans for governance boards to oversee giving heads greater flexibility over their (non pay-related) budgets – including the ability to carry forward unspent funds; having heads’ performance management carried out by the chairman of the board of governors along with their States’ line manager; and giving them a greater role in recruitment and retention.
ESC president Andrea Dudley-Owen said the committee had worked with school heads in preparing the proposals.
‘We’ve opened ourselves up to a lot of constructive critique from head teachers and principals in them assisting us to refine the model, and also we’ve developed ourselves and undergone a significant amount of learning in this process,’ she said.
The vast majority of the heads have backed the plans, and the committee's recommendation of having a States Investigation & Advisory Committee set up to look at greater devolution of powers, giving schools and The Guernsey Institute greater autonomy.
Establishing the committee would be funded from within the existing resources of ESC and Policy & Resources, with up to £100,000 from the budget reserve if needed.
Delivering the changes to governance would be funded by ESC at a cost of about £225,000, which would come from the committee’s cost-reduction plans.
‘Governance is often seen as something that is a “nice to have”,’ said Deputy Dudley-Owen.
‘But good governance ensures good accountability and good decision-making.’
ESC is making this move separately from its plans to review the Education Law, after it withdrew its planned changes to the law last May.
It aims to have its report debated at the States’ January meeting.
