Totara School has been under statutory management for more than two years as it dealt with staff departures, a board resignation, parent withdrawals and the past principal’s resignation in June last year.
Commissioner Cleave Hay reported "relational trust" and "governance and management" issues at the school at the time.
Now, Ministry of Education director of education Otago Southland David Tapp said a limited statutory manager (LSM) would be put in place at the school once a new board is elected.
"While a date for the election has not been set yet, the school is preparing for it," Mr Tapp said.
The LSM would start work when the new board takes office. Until then, the commissioner would continue in the role, he said.
Totara School was "making good progress", so the annual review had been brought forward.
Mr Hay met ministry officials in February as part of that process.
"The intervention remains in place for now, and the LSM role is intended to provide stability as governance transitions back to an elected board."
Mr Hay, who was reappointed from LSM to commissioner following the resignation of the entire school board in May 2024, said the work now under way was a "vital step" in returning Totara School back to local governance and ensuring the school community had a direct voice in its future.
"The school’s going very well under the leadership of new principal Matt Hannagan. We wanted to give Matt a term here first."
While Mr Hay said there may be "question marks" from the community about his return to LSM again, he said it was because he already understood the school and was already working on what needed addressing.
"I could see the school was ready to elect a board again after we held governance meetings, essentially the same as a board, and six parents attended. We also had good numbers from a formal expression of interest in being a board member," he said.
The school community had been informed of the next steps.
There would be a call for nominations, election dates set and an information evening about what being a board member involved and how that worked alongside an LSM, Mr Hay said.
Mr Hay said while relief principal Judy Elvidge had last year kept good relationships and a good atmosphere at the school,having a permanent principal now was a key factor in re-establishing trust and re-building the school again.
"As soon as Matt started we saw an immediate change in perception publicly with locals and whānau. That certainty has now led to the decision to move to a board as a next critical step," he said.
The LSM would look after employment and finance, Mr Hay said.
Another part of the school’s success would include new board members being "inducted and trained well" under the LSM’s guidance.
While there was no formal timeline to when the LSM would be able to hand the school back to its own independent governance, a "solid board" would be foundational to that.
Mr Hannagan said the school was taking "careful and appropriate" steps to "set the school up for success".
"We don’t all want the school to be in a position in years down the line where it falls into a position that it fell into previously, which isn’t great, so we want to do it successfully.
"Our main aim is to focus on how we can fortify and strengthen our school," he said.
He was grateful for Mr Hay’s "support and guidance".
Mr Hannagan said he had received a positive reception since he started in the new role this year.
"It’s been a fantastic first term. What we wanted to bring was fun, collaboration, positivity and better communication and we’re reaping those rewards.
"We’ve got great kids and we’re looking for more growth now this term."
The rural school’s roll was currently at 20 pupils.
Strategic planning and engagement meetings with the school community had been "really successful" and provided a "community vision, direction and voice" which Mr Hannagan said was "paramount moving forward".
A weight had been lifted off the shoulders of the children since the beginning of the statutory intervention with "a lot more certainty moving forward", he said.
"The kids are really settled, their behaviour’s been fantastic we have a really cohesive, collaborative and cooperative staff."
At present Mr Hannagan is teaching three days a week, working with fulltime teacher Scott Rawson and part-time teacher Olivia Muldrew.
He said they were looking to grow their learning support "but it will take time as we are essentially looking to internally fund that".
