Question: Can a headteacher select who will be the staff governor? Can the head bar a teacher from applying for the position? .

Joan Sallis replies: Your question is not altogether clear, though ‘no’ is the easiest answer on most assumptions. I think you mean a support (non-teaching) staff governor, and that you are wondering whether, if there is no such candidate, the headteacher may stop a teacher filling the slot. That would presumably be because he or she may not want too many teachers on the governing body, but it’s still not on.

Every staff governor, teaching or support staff, must be proposed and elected by the staff themselves and the Head should not try to influence the nominations or the outcome in any way. As you perhaps know, the whole staff, teaching and non-teaching can vote for a support staff representative where the school is big enough to be entitled to one and there is a vacancy. (Remember that a teaching assistant could stand for a support staff place.) If no support staff candidate can be found another teacher may indeed be elected. Possibly the head might on request make a suggestion for a support staff candidate if none spontaneously came forward.

If there were some extraordinary reason why a person (teacher or not) would be considered an unsuitable candidate (and I can only envisage this in a case which raised doubts on whether the person was suitable for employment at all!) a Head might share his or her concerns with staff or governors but this would be something quite exceptional.

To sum up, in general Head keeps out of the whole process. I sometimes express myself strongly about this because I know it is a temptation for heads to try to avoid too many strong and contentious governors, and equally natural for staff to look for effective and independent representatives. But it isn’t right for the head to intervene, and the governing body must protect the integrity of the process if necessary.

September 22, 2007