The guarantee of a place for parents on the governing board of academy trusts is to be scrapped under Government plans.
Yesterday, Education Secretary Nicky Morgan unveiled a white paper on education which proposed widespread changes.
It said that parents would still be able to sit on governing boards, but the requirement to have parent governors would be removed for academy trusts.
Perspective
“We will expect all governing boards to focus on seeking people with the right skills for governance, and so we will no longer require academy trusts to reserve places for elected parents on governing boards.
“We will offer this freedom to all open and new academies, and as we move towards a system where every school is an academy, fully skills-based governance will become the norm across the education system.”
The National Governors’ Association criticised the idea, with its deputy chief executive saying that parents bring an “important perspective” to schools.
Lose out
We think it is important that parents continue to have a seat at the board table
Gillian Allcroft
“Governing boards are strongest when they have a range of skills, experience and views. We think it is important that parents continue to have a seat at the board table”, Gillian Allcroft said.
Former school governor Margaret Morrissey, from Parents Outloud, said schools would lose out if parents were not on governing boards.
“Parent governors act as a conduit through which to gather information from the parent community”, she said.
Sex education
Governors moved to scrap a sex education DVD at a primary school in 2013, after parents complained.
Turners Hill Primary School ruled that the video was not in keeping with their ethos following concerns about sexually graphic scenes.