Parents and teachers said they felt as if the wool had been pulled over their eyes, after the association announced New Zealand Kindergartens was stepping in immediately to assist in day-to-day governance as part of a one-year pilot.
About 100 people crammed into a room at the Edgar Centre on Tuesday night after parents from the 24 kindergartens covered by Dunedin Kindergartens (DK) raised concerns about a potential takeover ahead of the meeting.
Parents said they feared a loss of control could lead to fee increases and closures.
At Tuesday’s meeting, DK board elections were also pushed back one year, leading to shouts of a "guerrilla-style takeover", and a "deliberate breach of the constitution".
Instead of new board members being elected, the current board would remain in place for the next 12 months.
DK also announced work to put a new constitution in place to stay compliant with the recent changes made to the Charities Act.
The announcements, which according to audience members were not properly communicated beforehand, were met with shouting and anger.
NZK Network chief executive Jill Bond, of Wellington, said it would work alongside the board, provide advice and guidance and more direct leadership on a day-to-day basis.
This would help DK’s leadership implement a series of recommendations made by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in a report commissioned by DK and NZK to find ways to keep the association viable and sustainable.
Kindergarten committee members in the crowd accused the DK board of "breaching its own constitution".
Ms Bond said "this was not a takeover" and the DK board, along with NZK, had agreed to pilot shared governance.
DK and NZK consulted a lawyer to ensure the pushing back of elections until next year’s annual meeting was constitutional and the pilot could be introduced without committee-wide consultation, she said.
One parent asked DK and NZK why they were consulting lawyers if "what they were doing wasn’t underhanded and wrong".
Ms Bond said the decisions already taken were recommended in the PricewaterhouseCoopers report.
The report, as well as a lawyer’s statement regarding the constitution, was not shared to all committee members before the annual meeting.
Ms Bond’s explanations did little to quell the crowd.
One parent said "you can put lipstick on a pig and dress it up however you like, that doesn’t change what it is".
"You must be talking another language, how does this not breach the constitution?
"Why should we trust that you’ll be transparent now?"
Tensions continued to grow as the meeting passed the two-hour mark and factions formed.
Suddenly shouts were not just being directed towards the DK board and NZK, but between camps on separate sides of the room.
One crowd member attempted to get people to "go rogue" and vote for a new Dunedin board anyway.
A committee member responded there was "no possible way a vote could be called" as members had not been briefed on candidates.
As shouting grew louder between the camps, some people stood up and left before the close of the meeting.
Immediately after the meeting, Ms Bond acknowledged to the Otago Daily Times it could have gone better and communication about the changes had been rushed.
"The intention was right, but the approach was not — the board acknowledged that.
"We will be working on a communication approach ... we will look at having smaller group forums where quieter voices can be heard as well."
St Clair Kindergarten committee member and parent Michelle De Bono said yesterday the next steps for concerned parents was to get 50% of the committee to request an extraordinary meeting.
"If it is held, all the committees from around Dunedin will send one representative who will vote on whether or not they would like to disassociate our relationship with NZK."
She said the fallout from Tuesday’s meeting was sending shockwaves through the entire association.
Yesterday morning’s kindergarten drop-off "involved a lot of tears from teachers".
"[The teachers] can’t say anything — they are so scared."
She feared if the changes went ahead, teachers would quit.
Dunedin Kindergartens did not respond before the deadline.
