Section 28: VACANCIES FOR PARENT MEMBERS OF SCHOOL BOARDS Section 28 came into force on 23 August 2000. Subsection 28(1) makes provision for vacancies which occur during members' term of office. These vacancies are often referred to as "casual vacancies" to distinguish them from vacancies that occur when insufficient parents are elected at a regular election. 1 Provision for vacancies that occur as a result of insufficient parents being elected at a regular election is made in subsection 28(2). S ection 28(1) provides that a by-election will only take place if a casual vacancy arises during a parent member's term of office and 30 parents, or a quarter of the electoral roll (whichever is the smaller number) sign a request for a by-election to fill the vacancy within two months of the vacancy arising. If no request is made within the two month period, the Board can co-opt a parent member under section 2B(3) of the 1988 Act. The subsection also provides that the education authority will take reasonable steps to notify parents that a vacancy has arisen and the circumstances in which a by-election will be held. Section 28(2) provides that if fewer than the required number of parents are elected at a regular election of parents, a by-election will not be held. In these circumstances, a Board can move immediately to co-opt up to two parent members in terms of section 2A(4) of the Act, without there being a by-election. A Board that has more than two parental vacancies following a regular election would be disestablished under the terms of subsection 20(6) of the 1988 Act. [ Section 28 responds to concerns that, under the previous arrangements, where vacancies arose, a School Board could be disestablished despite the fact that there may have been parents willing to serve on a Board, but who were apprehensive about standing for election. In order to balance the principle that the majority of parent members of a School Board should be elected, the section provides that parents have the opportunity to request that a casual vacancy is filled by election rather than co-option and restricts the number of parents that can be co-opted to fill vacancies following a regular election.] |