Area School Principals' Collective Agreement

4.1.1

1. The Board shall put in place an annual performance agreement and carry out a review (appraisal) of the Principal every year.
2. The purpose of this process are to ensure the Principal is aware of the Board’s objectives, assist the Principal’s professional learning and development and improve/acknowledge performance (i.e. it is about both accountability and development).
3. The performance agreement shall reflect the school’s strategic and annual plans and the Principal’s job description and shall take into account the professional standards for Principals as prescribed from time to time by the Secretary for Education, the preceding year’s review report where relevant and the Teaching Council criteria for certification as a teacher.
4. The performance agreement and review process is an integral part of the professional criteria by which a Principal may advance in professional leadership through the career stages of 4.4.
5. The performance agreement shall be in writing and a signed copy kept by both the Board and Principal.

4.1.2 The performance agreement shall be developed in consultation with the Principal and it shall detail:

1. Objectives for that year including relevant professional standards;
2. A professional learning and development plan for the Principal to identify strategies and support (including any agreed resourcing) to enable the Principal to carry out his/her responsibilities, meet the objectives and improve professional knowledge and performance; and
3. The process and criteria, as per 4.2 below, by which the Principal’s performance is to be reviewed for that year.

4.1.3

1. Every endeavour shall be made by the Board and Principal to reach agreement on a performance agreement that is acceptable to both of them.
2. Where this has not been achieved the Board or the Principal may seek professional advice to assist them.
3. Where a performance agreement acceptable to both parties is not achieved, the decision of the Board in relation to the contents of the performance agreement for that year will be final. In such circumstances the Principal shall have the right to attach written comments including any professional advice obtained under (b) above and/or noting any objectives that he/she considers unreasonable, to the performance agreement which shall be considered during the review or other proceedings.

4.2.1

1. The Board will carry out the annual review of the Principal’s performance in accordance with the annual performance agreement.
2. The review is in relation to the objectives in the performance agreement and to professional standards.

4.2.2 While the Board shall retain responsibility for the review it may delegate the management of the process to Board member(s). The Board or delegated board member(s) may decide to engage, following consultation with the Principal, an external reviewer.

4.2.3 Evidence used in the review should be relevant and should be objective and / or robust.

4.2.4 The Principal will assist the Board to conduct any review under this clause and in particular will give to the Board such information as the board requires to carry out the review.

4.2.5

1. The Board will, in consultation with the Principal, prepare a final report based on the review.
2. The Principal shall have the opportunity to comment on the final report, but is not obliged to do so.

4.3.1 Where there is a problem in the working relationship between the Principal and the Board (including individual Board members) that has not been informally resolved and is to the detriment of the school, the Board, in consultation with the Principal, may consider appointing a suitably qualified independent person to mediate or facilitate between the parties and/or undertake an impartial and objective assessment of the concern(s).

1. This clause outlines a career progression for Area School Principals who meet the professional criteria as affirmed by their Board and the service criteria. Payments made under this clause are to encourage and recognise individual professional growth, leadership and contribution of an area Principal.
2. Provided that the Principal has entered into a performance agreement and undertaken an annual review as in clauses 2.1.2, 4.1 and 4.2 within the last 12 months, Principals covered by this collective agreement will be entitled to a career allowance based on clauses 4.4(c)-(j) and the following service and professional criteria:

3. The Board of Trustees is responsible for affirming that the Principal meets the professional criteria, after which one of the following career allowances shall be made and will be paid fortnightly. A Principal can only receive one payment under 4.4(d) at any one time.
4. The career payments for each stage are as follows:

5. For the purposes of this clause, continuous service is not broken by a gap in principalship of up to three years. Service as a Principal in a New Zealand State or State integrated school shall be included in the calculation of service under the service criteria. A special case may be made by a Board of Trustees to the Ministry of Education to have other Principal service included in the calculation of service provided that at the time of applying the Principal has completed at least a year in a New Zealand State or State integrated area school.
6. Service will not be counted for periods of time spent:
   1. on leave without pay;
   2. on secondment (other than as a Principal in another school);
   3. as supernumerary in a teaching role;
   4. as a relief or acting Principal (except where the acting or relief Principal moves directly to a substantive Principal role).
7. When there is a break of more than three years service before reappointment as a Area School Principal, previous experience as a Principal shall be credited as one half year of service for each complete year of Principalship (that would otherwise be eligible as service for this allowance), allowing the Principal the possibility of moving directly to any of the three career stages providing she/he meets the relevant professional criteria, provided that:
   1. at the time of eligibility she/he has completed one year in their current position;
   2. that while they were on the break for three years or more the Principal consistently maintained their teacher certification;
Where the Principal does not meet these requirements, three years service must be completed prior to the previous experience as a Principal being credited as one half year of service for each complete year of Principalship (that would otherwise be eligible as service for this allowance).
8. Principals who have met the service criteria of stage one (or higher) but have not participated in a First Time Principals’ Programme and who are no longer eligible to do so shall demonstrate through their professional learning and development plan that they have participated in professional learning activities similar to the First Time Principals’ Programme.
9. A Principal who is undergoing corrective action pursuant to clause 6.2.2 or 6.3 of this agreement shall not receive the career allowance from the commencement of the procedure until such time as the corrective action has successfully been completed at which time the career allowance recommences.
10. To maintain eligibility for the career allowance, every three years the Principal’s Board of Trustees must re-affirm that the Principal meets the service and professional criteria and has undertaken a performance agreement and annual review within the previous 12 months (consistent with clause 4.1 and 4.2).

4.5.1 First time Principals employed in a U1 to U2 grade area school shall receive 10 days development release time over an 18 month period to be used for professional learning opportunities designed to improve their management and professional learning leadership capability.