Budget reaction: No silver bullet, but good start – NZSTA

<h2>The New Zealand School Trustees Association &lpar;<em>NZSTA<&sol;em>&rpar; has welcomed Budget 2021&comma; citing increased support in student wellbeing and learning support as highlights&period;<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>NZSTA President Lorraine Kerr says&comma; while Budget 2021 is not going to resolve all the issues school boards are facing&comma; &&num;8216&semi;it will go a long way towards creating a climate where schools can return to focusing on success rather than just survival&&num;8217&semi;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<blockquote>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;School boards around the country will be gratified to know that many more of their students are having their basic needs for food&comma; shelter and clothing met by the time Budget 2021 initiatives are implemented&period; The increased support for student wellbeing and learning support will also be welcomed&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;blockquote>&NewLine;<p>Kerr highlighted initial funding for the implementation phase of the &&num;8216&semi;Tomorrow’s Schools&&num;8217&semi; to provide more comprehensive and targeted front line support to schools through the proposed Education Service Agency &lpar;ESA&rpar; comes with a view to create &&num;8220&semi;a more networked and supported system that is more responsive to the needs of learners&sol;&amacr;konga and their wh&amacr;nau&&num;8221&semi; and said this is of particular interest to school boards&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>When lifting the bar for the schooling system as a whole&comma; it is important that support for school boards keeps pace with the changes being made elsewhere in the system&comma; Kerr says&period; Adding that the NZSTA looks forward to seeing how this plays out as the Education Service Agency takes shape&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;School boards are the glue that holds the system together&comma;&&num;8221&semi; says Kerr&period; &&num;8220&semi;NZSTA will continue to work constructively with the Ministry of Education to ensure that these changes deliver identifiable benefits to school boards in their governing role&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The NZSTA statement also said funding to progress pay equity and Holidays Act remediation &&num;8216&semi;is more welcome news for school boards in terms of their good employer obligations&&num;8217&semi; and the association would be &&num;8216&semi;checking in with officials to confirm that this funding covers both Ministry-funded and board-funded positions&&num;8217&semi;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Kerr added&comma; &&num;8220&semi;NZSTA also acknowledges the cost adjustment for schools’ operating grant funding&period; While this is a small incremental amount year on year&comma; it is essential to maintain the baseline of services that schools provide&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;