The school was funded for 72 pupils last year. The school’s role had dropped to 30 by the end of the year. The roll currently sits at 19.
Principal Sandra Spekreijse has not returned, although commissioner Cleave Hay said Mrs Spekreijse is ‘‘still employed but on leave’’.
The Otago Daily Times understands Mrs Spekreijse has not been on the school grounds in her role as principal since October last year, following an alleged ‘‘playground incident’’ in which a junior pupil was attacked by a senior pupil.
The small North Otago primary school has been under statutory management since last year, after three teachers, board members and many parents and their children all departed from the school.
Mr Hay said a relief principal provided from the emergency staffing pool had been employed in Mrs Spekreijse's absence.
‘‘Her name is Judy Elvidge, a very experienced principal, who has done this sort of work since 2019.
‘‘She commenced on Monday and tells me she is enjoying the school's atmosphere and getting to know the students, staff and parents/whānau,’’ he said.
Mr Hay said two new pupils were due to start during the term.
Ministry of Education hautū (leader) Te Tai Runga (South) Nancy Bell said if a board (or the commissioner, in this case) could not recruit a principal, a pool of principals was available for a 10-week placement in certain circumstances.
Ms Bell said Totara School was funded as a full primary school, catering for years 1-8 and operational funding ‘‘does not change when a statutory appointment is made to a school’’.
‘‘Small primary schools with fewer than two full-time teachers receive extra operational funding to employ support staff,’’ she said.
Mr Hay was appointed by the Ministry of Education in January last year as limited statutory manager.
He was reappointed as commissioner in May after the entire school board resigned.
A Ministry of Education-led report delivered by Mr Hay last year stated issues at the school around relational trust, governance and management relationships, communication breakdowns and pupils leaving, risking the ongoing operation of the school.
An ‘‘unhappy’’ parent group cited ‘‘student safety issues’’ at the school.
This week, a former Totara School parent, who asked to remain anonymous, questioned why they were blocked from the school’s Facebook page.
They contacted Mr Hay to lodge their complaint, saying there were a ‘‘number’’ of other former parents who were also blocked on the social media site.
They described the incident as ‘‘odd’’.
‘‘It's a public platform. None of us had done anything to warrant being blocked. I think it shows the unprofessionalism of school management.
‘‘While it didn't end well for us, Totara is special and a part of people's history, some going back five generations,’’ the parent said.
Mr Hay said the incident was discussed with the relief principal who would request that the ‘‘page administrator’’ remove any blocks if any were found.
In October, the alleged playground attack led to an investigation by the commissioner and to Mrs Spekreijse working ‘‘offsite’’.
Mr Hay did not comment on the result of the investigation into the alleged playground attack.
He said the intervention would be reviewed in June, a little over one year since his appointment as commissioner.
