School boards announced but Education ‘rebel’ walks out

He resigned from interim governance boards at several schools after claiming that some members of the Education Committee had blocked him from sitting on one recently set up for the Sixth Form Centre.

Deputy Cameron said he had ‘dedicated significant time and effort’ as vice-chairman of 10 school boards since they were set up two years ago and was resigning from them reluctantly as ‘the only lever available to attempt a reversal of the decision’ to exclude him from the Sixth Form Centre ahead of its move to La Mare de Carteret next summer.

He claimed that he had since been shut out of correspondence concerning interim governance boards, including about the recent appointment of community representatives at most schools, despite remaining a full member of the Education Committee, although he understood that this was a temporary measure.

‘It is my belief that the structure of this new Sixth Form Centre governance board was intentionally designed to exclude my participation due to my critical stance on the separation of the Sixth Form Centre from the former Grammar School, now operating as Les Varendes High School.

‘This exclusion, made after my nomination, in addition to previous attempts to exclude me from secondary and post-16 education meetings, raises serious concerns regarding the transparency and accountability of our school governance,’ said Deputy Cameron, in a resignation letter to Education president Andrea Dudley-Owen, which he shared with the Guernsey Press after receiving questions about his move.

Deputy Cameron said he had been nominated by Education Committee colleague Steve Roberts, but the majority of the committee supported Deputy Steve Falla from the Economic Development Committee.

Education confirmed Deputy Falla’s appointment when it provided a list of members of school boards.

The list included community representatives and other external appointees, but omitted the names of Education Committee members and officials who are also sitting on school boards.

In his letter of resignation Deputy Cameron said he was confident that his years of experience and commitment were advantageous to Education’s school governance project. He said he had a long-standing connection with the Sixth Form Centre as an alumnus, parent and school committee member which allowed him to understand its culture, strengths and challenges, and had ongoing engagement with staff and union representatives.

‘Given these circumstances, I am left with no alternative but to step down from my current role on the interim governance boards. I regret that this course of action has become necessary.’

Deputy Cameron’s departure from school boards was the latest in a long line of disagreements within the Education Committee.

Early in the current States term, a code of conduct panel issued Deputy Cameron with a caution for a minor breach of the code reported by other members of Education, one of whom was joining committee meetings online after refusing to sit in the same room as him.

Deputy Cameron has repeatedly criticised the decision to move to three 11-16 schools with sixth form studies on a separate site and for several weeks last year was excluded from discussions on the issue before the committee backed down in the face of a letter of protest from 15 deputies.

He has also rebelled against the committee’s line on sports funding, devolution of powers to schools and the future of Herm School.