Like most school board of trustees members, Mark Rogers started out as a parent who was elected on to his children's school board.
It was in 1998, when he had two sons at Kaikorai Valley College.
‘‘I just wanted to be involved in my boys' education at the time. That was my main inspiration for standing.''
Of course, his sons have since moved on, but Mr Rogers has stayed on and climbed the ladder of seniority to become the board's chairman.
‘‘I've stayed on because so many things at the school take so much planning that once you get your teeth into it and you get an understanding of it, you just want to follow on - you want to see it through to the end.
‘‘It provides challenges that are quite addictive.''
Mr Rogers said the role of board trustees was at a governance level, not the day-to-day management level.
‘‘So we meet once a month to cover off a number of topics, such as staffing, finance, health and safety, resource allocation, and achievement [how the pupils are going with their study, are they achieving the goals set by the heads of departments].
‘‘Everything we do, we always ask ourselves the question: What does it have to do with student achievement?
‘‘So if we are involved in something like changing a building, we do it so it makes the learning environment better. We make the school a better place for our pupils.''
He said the average trustee would need to spend about three hours a month at a board meeting, but on top of that, they would be expected to dedicate time to one or more subcommittees which look after things such as finance, property, international pupils and, in the case of Kaikorai Valley College, the special needs unit.
‘‘What we normally do is, a person with an interest in one of these particular fields will pick up and chair that committee.
‘‘So with the special needs unit, we will have someone that's pretty passionate about that unit and will look after it - perhaps a parent of a child in the unit.
‘‘The finance committee will have someone with a good accounting/finance background; and if you have a lawyer on the board, they might look at reviewing the health and safety procedures.''
Unfortunately, it can be very difficult for some schools to attract people to fill board seats.
Mr Rogers said for a number of years, Kaikorai Valley College could attract only the bare minimum of trustees needed to run the school.
But more recently, it had had to hold board of trustees elections because it had more people standing than there were seats available.
‘‘It seems to go in swings and roundabouts.
‘‘In the last couple of months, we had a resignation from a board member, and the parents that we've approached to fill the position have not been able to spare the time.
‘‘In general, it is tougher to get people to stand. It's about three hours a month, plus a committee meeting which takes about an hour of preparation.
‘‘Another thing that puts potential trustees off is they don't know what the job entails and what the rewards are. Their concern about their lack of knowledge is probably the biggest thing.''
He said trustees did not have to have university degrees to be board members.
‘‘A dedicated parent can come on board and serve exceptionally well, purely by being prepared to roll their sleeves up and get involved.''
Everyone brought a certain level of skill which could be capitalised on, he said.
There was also training and support for new trustees, most of which came from the New Zealand School Trustees Association (NZSTA) which provided courses aimed at bringing new trustees up to speed and enabling them to become real working members of their boards.
Mr Rogers said the association also had a helpline board members could call to get instant answers to board queries and it had specialists, such as employment specialists, financial specialists, and legal specialists, who could provide advice.
The key to being a good trustee was being well prepared for the board meetings, he said.
‘‘You've got to arrive at the meetings having read the material that's come out. That's vital.
‘‘There's no point in going into a meeting and saying: ‘So what's on the agenda tonight?'. If you're prepared, the board hums and you get great contributions.''
He said an honorarium of up to $30 per month was paid to board members to cover travel or fuel costs.
‘‘But clearly, those that do the job do it purely out of passion.
‘‘I'm very fortunate that my employer sees my time off (particularly as board chair) as community service. They're just great. I can juggle my hours around to suit.''
Mr Rogers didn't sugar-coat the challenges of the job.
He said it could sometimes push you to pull your hair out.
‘‘The limited funding that we have, compared with what we want, to do what we want to do, is frustrating.
‘‘But there are huge rewards in putting the pieces of a puzzle together and coming up with something that works for what the school needs.
‘‘The real high of the job is going to school awards ceremonies like prize-givings.‘‘They're the real highlight of the entire year. That's when you really see the results of all the work we've put in at night and behind the scenes.
‘‘You think, we've helped create this. That's the real buzz - just to think that there's a little bit in there that you contributed to their success.''
Board of trustees elections are held every three years.
Parents of pupils enrolled at state and state-integrated schools around the country select the people who will be ultimately accountable for the education their children receive.
Parents may nominate any eligible member of the community who has useful skills and experience to be on the board of trustees.
Voting is restricted to parents of presently enrolled pupils.
NZSTA president Lorraine Kerr said having an effective board of trustees can make a big difference to a school.
‘‘An effective board will help to make sure that the students are safe, achieving well, and happy at their school, that the principal and staff have the resources they need to make that happen, and that the school has a good relationship with their community.''
The board is the employer of all staff in the school, is responsible for setting the school's strategic direction in consultation with parents, staff and pupils, and ensures the school provides a safe environment and quality education for all its pupils.
Boards are also responsible for overseeing the management of personnel, curriculum, property, finance and administration.
Ms Kerr said this year's triennial trustee elections would be held over May and June.
A survey of 700 boards of trustees, conducted by NZSTA last month, shows more than 93% of boards have already started planning for the 2016 elections.
Two out of three have identified a returning officer to manage the election process on their behalf, and about one in six have begun searching for prospective board members, she said.
At the time of the last triennial elections, there were 18,435 people serving on boards of trustees in New Zealand's 2422 state and state-integrated schools.
NZSTA is again managing the trustee election process in collaboration with the Ministry of Education.
Mr Rogers said he planned to stand for yet another term on Kaikorai Valley College's board of trustees at the coming elections.
Why?
"Because I've got unrealised dreams for the school.''
