A new board has been appointed to the Te Whānau o Hato Petera Trust following a special meeting held yesterday.
The college has come under scrutiny in the past week amidst accusations by Dr Lance O'Sullivan that appropriate procedures were not followed by the college or the Whānau Trust board to address issues of bullying.
It seems as though the dust has settled at Hato Petera. Te Kāea spoke to Lance O'Sullivan today who said he has confidence that the new board members possess the necessary skills to address the issues at the school and he went on to say he has confidence in Tame Te Rangi as chairperson. That is a significant statement given a short time ago Lance O'Sullivan laid a motion of no confidence against Tame Te Rangi in that role.
There are two boards at the college. One is the School Board which is responsible for the education side of things. The other is the Whānau Board which is responsible for the hostels and the lease of the land.
The new board consists of 12 members, seven of whom are new.
They include Rudy Taylor, Agnes Naera, Hinurewa Te Hau, Oscar Nathan, Buster Harris, Coralie Dargaville, and Tina Peters.
They will sit alongside the current members Tame Te Rangi, chairman, Lance O'Sullivan, Anthony Kemp, Patrick Nicholas, and principal, Hone Mathews.
Although a new board has been appointed, they still have a huge undertaking ahead including the dilapidated buildings, the lease of the land with the diocese, and increasing the student roll. Also, if there is any truth to the concerns that were raised by Lance O'Sullivan regarding processes and policy at the college, then those too will need to be addressed.
What's positive is the board seems to have confidence in themselves and all of them are committed to leading the college to reach its full potential.