Area school principals
Find out about the pay, allowances, benefits and other entitlements available to principals employed in area schools.
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The rights and responsibilities specified in an employment agreement must be adhered to. This page supports boards and area school principals to understand the rights and responsibilities that are associated with their roles, as stated in an area school principal’s employment agreement.
- Employment agreements
- Your pay
- Career structure payment
- Allowances
- Professional coaching and wellbeing support
- Leave
- Other benefits and entitlements
- Leaving your job
- Further information
Employment agreements
Area school principals in state and state-integrated schools and kura are covered by:
- the Area School Principals’ Collective Agreement (ASPCA), or
- an individual employment agreement, with similar terms and conditions as the ASPCA.
Who's covered by the ASPCA
You are covered by the ASPCA if:
- your work is covered by this agreement, and
- you’re a member of one of the area school principals’ unions: the New Zealand Educational Institute Te Riu Roa (NZEI Te Riu Roa) or the New Zealand Post Primary Teachers' Association (NZPPTA).
Area School Principals’ Collective Agreement 2023-2025
Who's covered by the individual employment agreement (IEA)
You need to sign an IEA if:
- your work is covered by this agreement, but
- you're not a member of the NZEI Te Riu Road or NZPPTA.
The Ministry of Education develops and approves the individual employment agreement. The terms and conditions of your work are similar to the collective agreement.
Area School Principals’ Individual Employment Agreement [PDF, 92 KB]
Your pay
Your pay is made up of several parts:
- Roll-based salary - the more students in your school, the higher your base pay.
- Staffing-based salary – an additional amount based on the number of staff in your school.
- Decile payment - if your school is in deciles 1 to 4, you'll get an addition to your annual pay.
- Area school principals' payment – this additional payment recognises the complexities of your role as an educational and professional leader across all years of the curriculum.
- From the start of the 2024 school year, Principals in a school that falls within the top 40% of the equity index shall receive a payment based on the equity index number of the school multiplied by nine. The payment shall replace the decile based component of each principals’ pay.
Tables set out in clause 3.1 of the collective agreement show your salary components.
Clause 3.1 - Area School Principals' Collective Agreement
Career structure payment
You can also qualify for a salary increase based on the number of years you've been a principal and whether you meet the professional standards.
There are different standards for initial, experienced and leading principals. Your board is responsible for reviewing your performance and confirming that you qualify for the career payment.
The criteria for the career payment are set out in clause 4.3 of the collective agreement. The professional standards are at the end of the agreement.
Clause 4.3 - Area School Principals' Collective Agreement
Allowances
You may be eligible for allowances as follows:
High priority principals’ allowance
Pacific Bilingual Immersion Teaching Allowance (PBITA)
Professional Coaching and Wellbeing Support
The purpose of the funding is to ensure area school principals’ leadership development and wellbeing. For each of 2023 and 2024, primary principals will be able to access funding of up to $6,000 per annum for professional coaching and support for their leadership role.
Clause 4.5 – Area School Principals’ Collective Agreement
Accessing the funding
The $6,000 in funding will be a line item tagged in area schools’ operational funding grants for the purposes of professional coaching and support for area school principals. Each school’s use of the funding should be in accordance with its policies relating to professional development and sensitive expenditure. It may be necessary for the principal and the Board to agree a new policy for the fund if existing policies do not sufficiently cover the use of the fund. If required, further advice can be sought from the New Zealand School Trustees Association (NZSTA). Principals and Boards may also wish to refer to the Ministry’s Financial Information for Schools Handbook (FISH) and relevant guidance from the Office of the Auditor General (see links under further reading below).
Choosing your provider(s)
The Ministry of Education recommends:
- Where possible, schools engage providers that are appropriately qualified and accredited; and
- Use of the fund focuses on supporting the principal’s development in their capacity as the chief executive of the school in terms of management and control (i.e. management and organisational executive leadership).
The fund complements the annual career allowance already available to primary principals, as well as other types of professional development funding such as centrally funded PLD relating to curriculum and pedagogy. The funding may also be relevant to principals’ Professional Growth Cycle (PGC).
The funding is a minimum entitlement and does not prevent principals and their Boards agreeing to additional coaching and support in excess of $6,000.
Annual declaration
In addition, note that principals will be required to make an annual declaration to their Boards regarding their uptake and use of the funding. The declaration shall be made no later than the last day of Term 4 each year. The declaration is both because the Board is the principal’s employer and responsible for considering and supporting their wellbeing, but also for audit purposes. All state and state-integrated schools are funded by public money and the Board has ultimate accountability for how this money is spent. As with all spending, principals and their Boards should have regard to Government Procurement Rules, follow best practice, seek to achieve public value for money, and avoid any conflicts of interest when choosing how to use their professional coaching funding.
Further reading:
- Financial Information for Schools Handbook 2018
- OAG sensitive expenditure guidance
- OAG conflicts of interest guidance
- OAG good practice guide to appropriate public expenditure
Leave
Annual leave, paid sabbatical leave and unexpected event leave are set out in Part 5 of the collective agreement. All other leave entitlements, including sick, parental, bereavement (tangihanga), study and refreshment leave, are the same as for area school teachers. Your school can also allow discretionary leave for various activities.
Leave for principals and teachers
Other benefits and entitlements
You’re entitled to receive superannuation contributions from your employer.
Superannuation for principals and teachers
If you move schools because you’re promoted or you move to work in a ‘hard to staff’ school, you may qualify for a payment to help cover your transfer and removal costs.
The Ministry of Education is able to approve different terms or conditions than those in the employment agreements, such as:
- payments or benefits for taking on extra duties and responsibilities
- 'sensitive payments' such as work-related Koru Club membership, home phone and internet rental, and limited use of a school vehicle for private purposes.
Special terms or conditions (concurrence)
Leaving your job
If you have a terminal or serious illness that means you can no longer work as a principal, you may be eligible for medical retirement.
Medical retirement for principals and teachers
Both you and your school must follow the correct processes and procedures to manage your resignation, dismissal or retirement.
Resignation, dismissal and retirement
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