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Regional | Education

Huge concern over Commissioner's fees

Details under the Official Information Act reveal that the Commissioner appointed to Moerewa School last year has clocked up fees and expenses totalling $149,000 that Moerewa School must pay.

Northland Māori principals are angry at details released under the Official Information Act showing the exorbitant fees charged by Commissioner Mike Eru.

It's not just Māori principals who are angry either, the Northland Principals Association is also concerned about a system that allows a commissioner to charge rates of up to $100 per hour.

Pat Newman, President of Northland Principals Association says, “Getting good money and by the hours that he claims he can’t sleep at all because he must  be doing 24 hours in a day.”

It's been 18 months since Mike Eru was appointed as Commissioner for Moerewa School, yet his agenda at the school remains a mystery, as does any information showing what has been achieved in that time.

Aside from the hefty bill for fees and expenses the school must pay, in February of this year, Moerewa School received a glowing report from the Education Review Office, which has left many parents wondering what exactly the Commissioner's role is.

This has become of a growing concern for Esme Sherwin, “I would like to see an itemised account of what he's done maybe a publicly issued description of his job.”

According to Robert Clarke of Northland Māori Principals Association, “It’s a massive amount of the school's budget, which should be going to assist in the children's education and not to one person, and that's why I'm angry at this guy.”

As of this afternoon, we were still waiting for the Minister of Education's office to address our queries.