 | | Question: I am a foundation governor at a primary school and we have now held two rounds of interviews in an effort to appoint a new head. The chair of governors made it clear in the last interview that he wanted the internal candidate to be appointed, to the point of putting those voting against under enormous pressure to give a yes vote. He was supported by a governor who has a very close working relationship with the internal candidate (a teaching assistant).
A number of the governors actually broke down outside the meeting room, saying that they could barely stand the pressure that they were being put under. They held firm, but we now have a third round of interviews and the chair has whittled the four candidates down to two, including the previously discarded internal candidate. At this evening’s meeting before the interviews, he again made his view clear - "you all know my opinion about who should be appointed" - and has made a number of strategic changes to the interview arrangements, in his favour.
We feel trapped in some kind of bizarre Orwellian scenario: "You will continue to vote until you vote correctly."
I regard the entire business as incredibly unprofessional, and clearly completely unfair to the fresh candidates who will be a) unaware of and b) entirely lacking in the advantage of support for the internal candidate.
The local authority advisors made it clear that none of the previous candidates were really suitable, including the internal candidate. What can we do? I am utterly dismayed by this farcical process which, frankly, could never take place in the professional arena outside education.
Joan Sallis replies: The frustrations of being unable to appoint are challenging (and it seems there’s quite a lot of it about) and your chair has obviously had enough. I do feel, however, that the chair is very unwise to force the issue, as an appointment with shaky panel support is bad news (indeed a decision to drop candidates from the shortlist should not be made without panel approval) and any governor with a personal interest should declare it. You must insist in particular on any fresh candidates having a fair hearing from ALL governors on the panel and try to get the LEA advisors to support you strongly in this.
August 2, 2006
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