School Board of Management

[blindedbythelamp]

Does anyone have any experience of joining a primary school Board of Management?
Our BOM is currently looking for new parent representatives, and I'm considering whether to put myself forward or not. I would like to contribute to the school, but I'm unsure how much it involves or could potentially involve.

Dont even bother. The principal and priest have all decided before meetings and usually have a chosen pet on the board so its just all for show

Thanks for your response @Radyward, that's disappointing to hear.

I have just finished up on the BOM of my kids' primary school as the female parent's representative for the past four years. I found that the Chair (not the priest) and the Principal do the brunt of the work and run the meetings. They know everything and fill in the others on the board. Confidentiality is respected and nobody is named during meetings.

I'm glad I took part in it as I wanted to support the school, but I did feel there was an inner circle and the thing that concerned me is that we were always expected to accept the prevailing point of view (the principal's). We were told at our training seminar that the board acts as a single entity and is a cooperative venture. The fact that everything is filtered through the Principal leads you to wonder how people with a grievance can get a fair hearing if they addressed it to the board.

Otherwise, I attended meetings, read over policy documents, agreed with proposed appointments (Chair and Principal interviewed). I gave my opinion during meetings when I thought it was appropriate. I'm done with it now. I don't fancy ever doing it again. It's important that you like the Principal and agree with their style of management. It would be very difficult to be on the board if you had an issue with this.

@bliblindedbythelamp
I was very blunt there as the BOM in my kids school is a total control fest by priest and Principal. During the last BOM election they picked the principal wife and a married couple to be on which flouts the Dept of eds own rules
The parents objected, went to the priest - oh no - fine with him
One of the parents went to the dept and Bishop over it and it was stopped

So the election happens, its first past the post-the first nominees get on. Done in the school no one invited in to observe.you couldnt make it up
The priest and principal want what they want pushed through with no opposition and control who gets on. AWFUL.
I would never have anything to do with a BOM.

It depends on the school and if it has close ties to the local parish church. I joined the BOM of my kids school but felt nothing but frustration that no matter what the point of view of myself (as rep of the parents) and the parents, we were always overruled by the church representative who wasn’t an experienced educator and didn’t always have the best interests of the school and the children at heart. It was really disappointing. I couldn’t believe that the local church who aren’t educators had the final say in all things to do with the school. In my instance there was a conflict of interest - we needed more accommodation and facilities for the overfilled school yet the church didn’t want to spend the money. In fact the local church person questioned why we were spending £ on bringing an education expert in from outside to give talks about bullying as bullying was a problem in the school at the time. The fact this person had the final say on whether or not the school should fund such an initiative was really disappointing. Also, we had the vice head teacher tell us there was an issue with bullying and kids not learning properly and the church person ignored the advice of the expert educator and went with what the church wanted to do. I was flabbergasted.

it might be different for an ET school though.

That's awful @JustAMum2003
Ours is church of Ireland and there is a bishop's representative but they are very supportive of the school.

In our school the parents vote in the parent representatives? Nothing to do with the principal or the priest.
Agree with pp that the chair of the board has a lot of responsibility.

Yes. The parents elect the parent representatives. It's the same system in all schools. In ours there were eight people; the chair appointed by the bishop, his representative, the principal, another staff member, two parent reps and two community representatives. However, the balance of power is the thing. Also, I would also point out that the Principal is the only one who knows the working of the school inside out, more than anyone else.

@justamum2003 thats just awful.
Yes the parents vote their reps in but the parents appointee or who wins was in our school someone who they knew wouldnt rock the boat ( not that theyd be let ) yes priests have huge influence as do The Church .Our priest was enraged that a parent contacted the Bishop over him going against Dept rules . Id love church involvement to be removed

The BOMs are stacked in the principal's favour. The teacher's rep won't go against the principal, the community reps were principals from other schools, the parents reps were brown nosers and were positioned to ensure they were voted in when my children were in primary school.

This closely mirrors my experience. If you go in with realistic expectations and are broadly happy with how the school is run, then it's a fairly straightforward role and not particularly time consuming, being on the Parents Association was way harder work and more fraught. If you were to go on it with a view to being part of creating major change, you'd be in for a shock. It is pretty stacked with the 'right' people who are pretty much singing from the same hymn sheet and/or who have limited interest in the detail of things. The parents reps are the only ones likely to rock the boat but they will be in a small minority and are unlikely to get anywhere. As it happens my children's school was very well run and the Principal was great so I had a positive enough experience but I was and am under no illusions that I would have had little power to change things has it been otherwise..

Yes, @theleafandnotthetree I agree with you. The Parents' Association is a lot more work in comparison and very time-consuming. The Board of Management is cut and dried. It's like a well-oiled machine and you're a cog in it.

Don’t bother is my advice.

I was voted in but then the Board chair (?) decided that as I was an English born blow in (despite having local roots), I wasn’t to be trusted, so they unilaterally disregarded the results and appointed their preferred person instead.

I did have a stand up row with the Principal afterwards, but then decided ‘what’s the point?’

I don’t dislike the Principal but I think she’s easily manipulated.

I am so cynical now. Our principal retired. One of the staff applied - never got an interview.a principal in another local school ( lovely fella) applied. Blocked by the parish priest.
Then the person we got has been handpicked by the priest from another area.he knew the priest personally.all sewn up before interviews.
Cut to the agm of the parents assocn-
New princpal intoduced himself but from the outset, a text was sent out before the agm no questions allowed or was to be put to the principal. You couldnt make it up . I despise him / the priest / the closed shop/ the control. It really is disgusting .
I admire people who domt volunteer in schools and just dont get involvec. Well done wise them !!

What was the official reason given for disregarding the vote @PinkLemons99 ?
They hardly said that you weren't to be trusted? Did they make up some excuse?

@Paperpurple

They initially said that I wouldn't understand all the paperwork compared to X who had served on the board previously and had experience. I think they assumed that as I was a SAHP, I was a numpty and could be easily fobbed off.

During my stand up row with the Principal, I pointed out I was legally qualified (back in the UK), and had some experience of drafting educational laws...

However, I didn't bother reporting them to the Dept. of Education as they'd find a way to get out of it.

I can completely understand why you didn't report @PinkLemons99 as why would you want to work with them at that stage.
I do think it's a pity you didn't though as they can't just go around ignoring votes. I don't think they'd have gotten away with it if an official complaint had been made. At least I hope not.
I'm a SAHP too and I do think others sometimes look down on people for it. I do get that vibe from some people unfortunately. I don't think I'm imagining it.

I was on the BOM of my kids school for 8 years as a parents rep. I loved it and certainly didn't feel like the principal had all the power.it was an ET school so no priest. We had the principal plus a teacher, 2 ET reps, 2 parents and 2'communuty reps . Most of our board were also parents as well.
I really enjoyed it. It didn't take up a lot of time. A monthly mtg and sometimes extra mtgs, the odd phone call. I was the treasurer for some of the time so that took extra time.
I got to know the school and the teachers very well and felt very involved.
I just wanted to give another view.

I think we all have our stories to tell about nefarious goings on and the 'closed shop' mentality. When the board I was on was turning over, the parish priest (who was outgoing chair) just handpicked the next chair and the members outside of the parents reps. It so happens that they were all grand, fairly capable people but that's sort of besides the point. The chair was picked largely because she did the readings at mass 🙄. She was also a parent of a child in the school which is not good governance practice. And if it were to be a parent there were at least 7 or 8 parents who had a long history of involvement in the school through the PA or Board and who were arguably better qualified. I was furious at the time but trying to challenge this kind of carry on is unfortunately a waste of time.

".......I was furious at the time but trying to challenge this kind of carry on is unfortunately a waste of time."

I'm sure you made some bit of difference @theleafandnotthetree

'I admire people who don't volunteer in schools and just don't get involved. Well done wise them!!'

I don't agree. Schools would be worse off if parents didn't take an interest.