Guernsey schools could get new governors

Education's proposals for new governance boards will be debated in January

Each of Guernsey's States-run schools could have their own board of governors, under proposals from the Committee for Education, Sport and Culture (ESC).

The new governors would help oversee budgets, recruitment and performance management for staff, the proposals said.

If approved at January's States meeting, politicians would not sit on the governance boards of schools.

ESC President Andrea Dudley-Owen said deputies in the past had been too close to operational decision making and her committee's proposals would change that.

Plans to reform the island's education law were withdrawn by ESC last year after 10 motions to make changes to the proposals were approved.

Deputy Dudley-Owen's committee had planned to bring other parts of reforms to the island's education law to the States in stages before the end of this political term, but Dudley-Owen admitted her committee "did not have the resources".

The chair of the new governance boards would be paid about £2,000 a year.

New committee

As part of ESC's plans to introduce new governors to oversee State schools, the committee is proposing the creation of a new "investigation and advisory committee".

This would report back to the States about whether there would be merit in giving school governors more power.

If ESC's proposals are approved and the new committee is created, it would start in the new political term and contain:

• A chair who cannot be a member of Policy and Resources (P&R) or ESC

• The president of the ESC

• P&R's lead on corporate services

• Two States members who aren't members of P&R and ESC who are in their second term

• Up to two non-voting members

That committee would need to report back to the States before September 2026 with its proposals on whether governors should be given more power on things such as budgets.