Equal Employment Opportunities Reporting

In the heady days following Tomorrow’s Schools, every board and principal in the country was tasked with developing its school’s own set of policies, which meant coming to grips with the requirements of the Ministry and the new legislation – namely the 1989 Education Act.

After an initial burst of enthusiasm which saw some churning out literally hundreds of policies, things calmed somewhat during the early 2000s.

However, it was clear to schools that many of these statements would be required, and one of the most vexing was the school’s EEO policy. Schools were required to appoint an EEO officer, and to record compliance with all things EEO in the school’s annual report. This included surveying staff annually, and then maintaining a database of staff needs and issues.

More recently the Ministry of Education has removed any reference to reporting EEO compliance in the Annual Report. This is slightly problematic as the requirement still sits squarely within the State Sector Act 1988, and is quite specific.

Here’s section 77A (1):

General principles

(1) Every employer in the education service must—

a)        operate a personnel policy that complies with the principle of being a good employer; and

b)       make that policy (including the equal employment opportunities programme) available to its employees; and

c)        ensure its compliance with that policy (including its equal employment opportunities programme) and report in its annual report (if any) on the extent of its compliance.

To add to this expectation, the Education Review Office includes it in their June 2017 Assurance Checklist for schools preparing for a visit.

So, what to do? An EEO policy is still a requirement to be a ‘good employer’. We can’t remove a legal requirement from the content without placing schools at risk.

We have removed the specific action of maintaining a database so given schools room for their own implementation and left the broad principles of an EEO policy. However, we have left the bullet regarding including a summary of the year’s compliance in the annual report. By adding a simple sentence or statement to the annual report, a school can report on its compliance with its EEO policy. 

Disaster, Death, Mayhem, Chaos, and Yoghurt

Disaster, Death, Mayhem, Chaos, and Yoghurt

There are many reasons why I lie awake night after night tense, vaguely afraid, pinned to the mattress by the heavy sense of impending doom. In my head, where there should be images of quiet rural scenes; palm fringed beaches with aqua wavelets gently lapping the shore; a picnic rug, a hamper of delicious morsels, and Johnny Depp;  there is a frantic motorway interchange of speeding thoughts recklessing tearing across the lanes, overtaking, screeching, nearly crashing, over and over again. They keep coming, relentlessly, and faster, and louder until I could stand up and scream (except for the being pinned down bit – and by doom that is, not Johnny Depp).

“WHAT CAN I DO? WHAT CAN I DO?” I would scream. “I’ve written them guides, I’ve reminded them in advisories, I’ve put it on Facebook, but I still don’t think every school that needs one has developed a Tsunami Evacuation plan!”

“What are they thinking? Don’t they realise that it will be too late once the klaxons are klaxing? All they need to do is look at the civil defence website and check out the evacuation areas. They can work with our guidelines and their local civil defence to create a plan. Just something that outlines where they will go and how. They just need to try it out and let the school community know about it so that parents won’t try to get to the school but to the assembly point or other designated place.  IT’S NOT HARD!”

“And what about lockdown? Surely they’ve all sorted their reverse evacuation plans? NO! NO! I DON’T THINK THEY HAVE! Don’t they care? What if there’s a tiger on the loose? What if there’s a guy with a gun? What if there’s a huge accident on the intersection outside school? What if there’s toxic dust swirling in the air from an overturned toxic dust tanker? What if a bunch of chimpanzees escape from the local zoo? What if a troupe of naked exotic dancers storms the playground? What if a dense cloud of mosquitoes big enough to block the sun is heading towards  the playground? What if there’s civil unrest and public violence? What if there’s an explosion near the front gate? ARE THEY SORTED? DO THEY KNOW HOW TO ALERT THE STUDENTS AND STAFF AND GET THEM INSIDE? DO THEY KNOW IF THEY CAN LEAVE THE SCHOOL SAFELY THROUGH THE BACK GATE? DO THEY KNOW HOW TO COMMUNICATE WITH EACH OTHER, THE POLICE, THE PARENTS?”

Then I feel sick. My head spins. I groan. No, really, I DO actually feel a bit sick. Just how far past the use by date can you eat yoghurt without it churning in your innards, running around, bubbling nastily and forcing its way out the nearest exit?

Sigh. Calm down. Happy place, happy place. Really schools have to take responsibility for their own emergency procedures – you can only do so much. Remind them again. Point them to the guidelines on the Demo site. Breath. Just breathe, get back to the palm fringed beach, the white sand, the rug, the picnic hamper - No, No Johnny! Put the spoon down! LOOK AT THE DATE! LOOK AT THE DATE! Hey, Johnny, the tide seems to have gone out a really long way – look! Why is the horizon coming towards us?

Help Megan sleep. Check out the guidelines on the Demo site for reverse evacuation and/or tsunami evacuation. Add reassuring comments here about your preparedness and/or experience with shortdated yoghurt.

Surrender and Retention of Items, and Searches

New guidelines have been issued under section 139AAI of the Education Act 1989. They provide advice about the new legislation relating to searches and confiscation (now known as surrender and retention) of property in schools. They explain the legislation (Sections 139AAA – 139AAI of the Education Act 1989) and the associated Rules.

“I’m a writer, not a teacher,” Michael Jackson once famously emoted to Paul McCartney. Oh okay, it might’ve been lover and fighter but let’s not quibble, the fact is that it’s a good thing I’m a writer, not a teacher.

I couldn’t give up the menacing and powerful word CONFISCATION for the limper Retention.

“Megan! Put that away NOW or it will be CONFISCATED!”  So terrifying; the unknown – what does it mean? Will I get it back in time to return it to my older brother’s room from whence it came in a “borrowed without permission” sort of arrangement? Will I ever get it back?

“Megan! Put that away or I might have to retain it.” Snigger. The mental imagery would be too much for my overactive and immature imagination. Although, on the other hand, SURRENDER really appeals.

“Put that away or I will require you to surrender it.” My heart would swell in zealotic fervour. “Never! You can put me on the second step, threaten me with a phone call to my mother, make me pick up litter, but I shall never surrender!”

But seriously, terminology aside, the issue of surrender and retention of items, and searches, is a complicated one. Schools need to become familiar with the legislation and guidelines, and their school’s procedures for dealing with serious infringements and for conducting searches. 

As with any behaviour management issues, students need to know what is acceptable, and what the consequences are for the unacceptable… Teachers use their judgement and their experience to manage behaviour and have the back up of a formal behaviour management plan, and the surrender and retention of items and search policy to use as necessary.

The board must authorise any non teaching staff to request surrender and retention, and if appropriate, to conduct searches. Teachers are automatically authorised, but we encourage boards to minute board agreement to authorise all teachers, also to authorise (and minute) all support staff. All staff must be briefed on the updated guidelines.

Authorisation must be given in writing, and acknowledged in writing. We have put a sample authorisation letter on the Demo site that we encourage boards to adapt and use.

For details, read the SchoolDocs topics and the Ministry guidelines (there’s a link to them in the SchoolDocs topic. Handy.)

And seriously, if you have to relieve a student of their prohibited bottle of soft drink, will it be fluid retention? If a student has to take an item home and never bring it to school again, will that be home retention? If you have to swing out the behaviour management plan after a surrender event, will that be a retention detention? If a teacher invokes the procedure too frequently, will they be on a surrender bender? I could go on, but I’m not allowed. I will employ some retention prevention and get off the blog now.