Under the Education Act 1989, the ministry can intervene in the management of a school when it believes there is risk to the operation of the school, or the welfare or educational performance of the pupils.
One form of intervention the ministry uses is a limited statutory manager who can be appointed by the Secretary for Education, to work on particular aspects of boards of trustees' governance roles, while the board remains in existence.
They are responsible for leadership and decision-making on all issues related to the functions, duties and powers of the board, and are selected based on the skills required and their compatibility with the school environment.
Otago Primary Principal's Association president Whetu Cormick believed the system was necessary to help schools which had serious problems they could not solve themselves.
However, he said schools had to pay for LSMs from their own funding, and schools were being ''charged through the roof''.
''My understanding is, they charge up to $100 per hour and some annual invoices are nearing $90,000.
''The high cost they charge is exorbitant and it's a cost to the young people who are in those schools.
''We would like to see the system reviewed.''
Mr Cormick was also concerned some LSMs were continuing to work in schools, even after issues were resolved.
Green Island principal Steve Hayward said $90,000 would be very useful for any school, particularly if it had pupils with learning difficulties.
''I could get about five full-time teacher aides per year for that amount. How useful would that be for children's learning?''
For $90,000, every school in Otago could get a reading laboratory [reading support programme].
''Every dollar spent on an LSM is a dollar that could go on a pupil's learning.''
An Otago secondary school principal, who declined to be named, said he had not heard of any horror stories involving LSMs in Otago, but had from other parts of the country. He agreed there was an issue with the way they were paid.
''It's become almost a double-edged sword.
''The ministry appoints the LSM and the school has to pay for it.
''It doesn't seem very fair - particularly if the school is already in financial difficulty.''
He believed if the ministry funded limited statutory managers instead of schools, it would be able to keep better checks and balances on the issue.
Many principals spoken to by the Otago Daily Times said they would like to see more detailed plans, timelines, goals and exit strategies for the interventions.
Ministry of Education regional operations acting head Jill Bond rejected the call for a review.
She said the ministry put a range of constraints on what LSMs could charge, for how many hours, and for how long their role continued.
''We negotiate their hourly rate and what the size of the job is, in terms of numbers of hours per week.
''The managers must report monthly to us on progress towards the goals set out for them by the ministry.
''A memorandum of understanding covers what they need to achieve and by when.''
Ms Bond said that the appointments were reviewed within 12 months, as were the number of hours required to do the job as specified.
Most schools with interventions were expected to return to full self-governance within 24 months.
''The quicker a board of trustees can demonstrate it is able to return to full self-governance, addressing the problems that led to the intervention, the quicker the intervention is over.''
If a school had real difficulty meeting the cost of an LSM, the ministry would pay some or all of the cost.
She said the ministry was paying for LSMs at 12 schools in New Zealand at present, including one at Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Otepoti in Dunedin.
''There are more than 2000 primary and intermediate schools in New Zealand, and currently there are 45 at which limited statutory managers have been appointed.''
