Kia tau te rangimārie ki a koutou

The recent announcement of budget 2021 will have no doubt led to a range of personal opinions regarding whether it has hit the mark and is a budget that has met the challenges of our times.  However, from a social justice perspective it was pleasing to see a significant rise in payments for beneficiaries, a stronger focus on housing and a stronger focus on partnership with Māori in health and housing. In contrast, climate and justice reform as well as those hoping for a more significant lift in Pharmac’s budget in order to purchase urgent, and in some cases, life saving modern drugs will be disappointed. The budget is an age old balancing act with clear winners and losers with the burden falling on future taxpayers who will be paying for the Covid-19 pandemic for a long time.

Special Maintenance Funds

APIS, therefore, would like to express our gratitude to the Hon Chris Hipkins for his advocacy within the Labour caucus resulting in the budget announcement that state integrated schools would receive a one-off funding package for maintenance and upgrades totalling $52.8 million dollars.  These funds will be delivered in two tranches of $26.4 million dollars.  On face value, this funding package would appear to be equivalent to the funding package given to state schools in 2020 which is as important as the funds themselves.  This decision and the amount provided is an acknowledgement by the Minister that state integrated schools are an equal partner in the provision of state education.  APIS is very grateful to Hon Chris Hipkins for facilitating both the funding package and for acknowledging our important contribution and partnership in the provision of state education.

I would also like to acknowledge the months of dedicated advocacy on behalf of APIS by Paul Ferris (Associate CEO) on this issue.  Having retired over six months ago, this issue has kept him very busy and we are grateful for all that he has done for state integrated schools in New Zealand to achieve this successful conclusion.

At this time, APIS is yet to meet with the Ministry of Education to determine the detail of the rollout of funds and eligibility criteria.  Our first meeting is scheduled in early in June and we will keep proprietors and schools updated as discussions take place. 

There is an expectation that all funds must be used within two years from the date of the budget.  With that urgency in mind, we are asking our schools to start considering suitable capital maintenance projects and upgrades with their proprietor.  The equivalent SIP funding delivered to the state schools was based on $693 per student.  You can use the 2020 July roll schools to calculate an approximate funding amount for your school – with a minimum payment of $50,000 and a maximum payment of $400,000.  Please note APIS has not yet had a meeting with the Ministry of Education nor signed any final agreement so we provide these details as a guide not an absolute.

Pūaotanga report

Some weeks ago, I spoke to an independent review panel set up by NZEI looking at staffing entitlements in primary schools.  This initiative was titled Pūaotanga and the report will be released in Parliament on the 10^th of June.  Some of the findings are already being released highlighting the long hours and expectations on our teachers and the impact of the role on their general wellbeing.  I was strongly supportive of this initiative as our teaching staff are the backbone of our education system and have over many years continued to deliver quality outcomes despite a significant and continuing range of changes and initiatives.  There is no doubt in my mind that our education system has far too many change initiatives going on simultaneously and coupled with the rise in social complexity many of our teachers are struggling to carry out their core role.  I hope the report will lead to some changes in support of our wonderful teaching staff.

Conclusion

I had the opportunity to visit an interschool religious performing arts competition a few weekends ago.  I am always amazed by the confidence and talent of our young students and the depth of content that they display in their speech, drama and debating events.  It reinforces the positive outcomes of a faith-based education for our ākonga and WHY we do what we do in supporting students in our schools.

Mā te Atua koutou katoa e tiaki, e manaaki.

 Kevin Shore

Chief Executive Officer

Keeping up to date and having your say

Did you know public consultation is currently underway on the proposed amendments to the Education and Training Act 2020? Consultation will remain open until 16 June 2021. 

To have your say and provide feedback visit the the Korero Mātauranga website, or via email to legislation.consultation@education.govt.nz

The following proposals are proposed for inclusion in the Education and Training Amendment Bill (No 2):

1. enable schools to whether to run their elections electronically, through hui or through the current primary postal and paper based process, as well as other changes to improve school board elections
2. Police vetting requirements to ensure all education workers are vetted prior to beginning work in licensed Early Childhood Education (ECE) services and schools
3. school out-of-zone enrolment priority categories to reduce the priority of children of former students and to increase the priority of students of teachers and board members
4. the Teaching Council’s disciplinary and certification functions
5. the regulation of compulsory student services fees
6. enable National Student Numbers to be used to support work-based learning
7. give the New Zealand Qualifications Authority discretion in cancelling a Private Training Establishment’s registration in a specific immigration related circumstance
8. specify a new function for the Education Review Office to review professional learning and development accessed by kura, schools and early learning services

Greetings

The Budget announcement on 20 May did not come as a complete surprise because Minister Hipkins had indicated his intention to find a way to settle our claim. We remain very grateful for his advocacy and his support of state integrated schools with this settlement. In terms of quantum the allocation is one of the largest ever received for the sector and will provide a welcome boost for schools trying to keep pace with capital maintenance alongside their state counterparts.

During the process of negotiation there were a number of sectors who offered and gave support to our claim. NZEI were quick to read the background material and share it with their executive who agreed to support us. We appreciated this support. Teachers and principals in our schools will be pleased to note the support of their union and the demonstration of unity that it gave. I am especially grateful to Liam Rutherford the President of NZEI for his willingness to listen and engage.

I want to also note the support of Lorraine Kerr, President of NZSTA. She also saw the strength of our claim and worked quietly to advocate for us.

Throughout this process we have been guided by a brilliant legal team - David Laurenson QC and Lucilla Van Dam in Wellington along with our APIS legal team at Parryfield in Christchurch and in particular Kris Morrison. Thank you to all involved for your wisdom and patience.

Many of you will be anxious to know more details about the roll out. Thank you for understanding that we have some steps to get through first. We understand your enthusiasm but we need to have a process in place before we proceed.  APIS will meet with Ministry of Education staff early in June and many of the questions you have can be answered. Kevin Shore will share that information as soon as it is agreed with the Ministry of Education.

This work will bring my involvement with the office to an end. I am looking forward to enjoying a little more time with my family and as a “grey nomad” around this magnificent country. I know you are good hands with Kevin and the team at the office.

Ngā mihi nui

Paul Ferris

To Lease or not to Lease....

How much can I lease?

When you’re thinking about leasing technology, the first place to head is the Ministry of Education‘s website on Managing School Finances which includes a handy Buy vs Lease Tool. They allow you to spend up to 10% of the school’s operation grant/budget on lease payments. This is not the total value of the lease, but what you are actually paying annually. You will need to factor in existing leases (like copiers and teacher laptops) as part of this 10%. And don’t forget to deduct any Ministry subsidies so you’re only including what the school is actually paying for.

Why lease?

Fast-tracking projects

Leasing gives you access to pre-approved credit, making it much easier to plan bulk procurement.

Exit strategy

Leasing lets you properly manage the useful life cycle of the device. No more defunct and ageing equipment tying up IT time or office storage space!

Leasing means you can keep your IT current and up-to-date in years to come, so you have fit-for-purpose technology that allows you to achieve your digital vision.

Negatively geared finance

These days, you will sometimes actually pay less than the invoice price over the full term of the lease. Companies are able to do this by factoring in the residual value of the product at the end of the term and removing this from what you pay.

Easy end-of-term options

There are three options at the end of the term:

• Return the goods
  This is usually accompanied by a replacement lease.
• Retain the goods
  You can offer to purchase some or all of the goods at “fair market value”, meaning you can make the decision to own the goods at the end of the lease when you have a better idea of whether your technology will continue to be fit for purpose.
• Extend the lease
  Many schools use this option when they want to change their procurement timing or need longer to make decisions.

Lease almost anything

Remember that you can also lease intangibles such as software, licensing and installation. You will only ever pay the lease amount, as it is not possible to return these items. Most finance companies limit the amount of intangibles to approximately 30% of the hardware goods value.

How long should the lease term be?

The majority of leases are for a three-year period – however, you can arrange a four-year lease if that suits you better.

There are two key reasons that most leases run for three years:

• Useful life of the device
  With the rapid rate of change in technology, it is generally accepted the useful life of a device is around three years. After this time, there is expected wear and tear and new technology naturally supersedes old technology.
• Residual values
  The value of the device at the end of term changes a lot from three to four years. For example, over a three year period there can be negatively geared financing, but as soon as it gets to four years, the finance does add an additional layer of cost.

Thanks to Ben Halling, one of our Education Business Development Managers, for the handy tips in this article.

 Remember you can lease much more than just your technology including a range of equipment from across The Warehouse Group of brands. Want to discuss the advantages of leasing? Talk to your local Account Manager.