Network News July - December 2009

What’s new – the Noticeboard

Preferred supplier of project management services update

We are pleased to advise that schools in the Hawke’s Bay, Gisborne and Northland regions can now choose property managers from a list of preferred suppliers.

The Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne region has nine professional planning and project management suppliers on their list while Northland has seven.

We encourage schools looking for a project manager to review the preferred supplier list located on the Ministry’s website as it will save time and money. It is recommended that schools approach three of the suppliers and speak with them to ensure there is a comfortable fit between themselves and the supplier as potentially they could be working together for a long period of time. Listed project managers can provide advice on 10-year property plans, capital building projects and property management advice.

Meanwhile, we are approaching the end of the formal Request for Proposal (RFP) phase of the procurement process for a further six regions. We expect to have the following regions finalised by the end of February 2010:

• Chatham Islands
• Westland, Grey, Buller
• Kawerau, Opotiki, Whakatane
• Kaikoura, Hurunui, Waimakariri, Selwyn, Ashburton, MacKenzie, Waimate and Timaru
• Masterton, Carterton, South Wairarapa, Tararua
• Manawatu, Wanganui, Rangitikei, Ruapehu and Horowhenua.

We are also about to enter into RFP stage for the final two regions and we expect to finalise their preferred supplier lists by the end of March 2010. These are:

• New Plymouth, Stratford and South Taranaki
• South Waikato, Otorohanga and Waitomo.

For more information, please visit the Preferred Suppliers Scheme section.

You are also welcome to contact Senior Policy Analyst Mark Stallmann in the Property Management Group at: mark.stallmann@minedu.govt.nz.

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Third party occupancy policy update

The Ministry’s Third Party Occupancy Policy is scheduled for its regular review to bring things up to date. At this stage it is not anticipated there will be any substantial changes to policy. In the meantime the policy and agreements on the website remain current.

A third party occupancy is where school premises, including grounds and/or buildings and facilities, are used by a non-school group for purposes not directly concerned with day-to-day teaching. For example, a community group may have regular meetings in the school hall, or an early childhood education service may operate in school premises under a licence to occupy.

Third party occupancy agreements

The Policy identifies and explains the types of agreements that boards of trustees can enter into with a third party. The standard third party occupancy agreements provided in the policy must be used, unaltered, for any third party occupancy arrangement.

Generally, a lease applies to an arrangement where the third party owns their own building which is situated on school land. A licence to occupy applies where the third party has exclusive use of a school building. There is a casual use agreement for intermittent, non-exclusive use eg after-school care in the school hall.

If the proposed arrangements don’t fit into one of the standard agreements, they are unlikely to fit into the policy.

Criteria for third party use of school sites

All third party occupancy arrangements must meet the criteria in section 70B of the Education Act 1989:

• the board must get the written consent of the Secretary before granting a lease or a licence to occupy
• the land, building, or facilities must not be needed by the school while the agreement is in place
• the agreement is in the public interest, and
• is for a purpose associated with educational outcomes and will bring educational benefit to the school or its community, or to any other school, or is for a community purpose, and will bring no educational disadvantage to the school.

Other points to note are:

• the arrangement must not affect the school’s primary purpose which is to educate its students – the Ministry policy is not to consent to commercial operations on school sites which bring more benefits to commercial operation than the school
• people wanting to use school premises do not have an automatic right – both the board and the Ministry must consent
• the arrangement must not commit the Ministry to paying for property to support the arrangement.

Process for getting Ministry consent

If your school wishes to enter into a third party occupancy agreement eg, to have an early childhood centre on the site, or to build a sports complex with community funding, before committing to anything your board must put a proposal for third party use to the local Ministry office seeking approval.

The proposal must address:

• the pros and cons in terms of s70B and the Third Party Occupancy Policy
• the school’s business case (costs, benefits etc)
• potential hazards eg affecting health and safety of students
• management of public coming on to the school grounds, parking, etc
• any potential commercial aspects of the arrangement
• sharing arrangements with the school if non-exclusive use is intended.

The local Ministry office will either agree ro decline the proposal and may submit it to National Office for approval if it is outside policy or unclear if it is within policy.

Operating costs

A recent question arose about who pays operating costs under a licence to occupy. The licensee (ie, the third party group occupying the school building) pays all operating costs such as electricity, gas, water supply, rubbish disposal, heating, telephone, grass cutting and cleaning services. Usually the board will bill the third party group for their share of the costs where they cannot be separately metered eg electricity.

Early Childhood PODs

Stand-alone PODs - these are no longer used and will be removed from the website.

ECE POD Lease - the term of this agreement remains at a maximum of 10+10 years.

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Electric fences at schools

The Ministry has become aware that some schools have installed electric fencing around their swimming pools. There are some legal, and health and safety requirements that boards need to consider when providing fencing.

Any electrified fence, whether atop a pool fence or other school fence, is likely to pose a significant health and safety hazard. The potential to deliver a shock to anyone who comes in contact with the fence is a hazard likely to cause harm – known hazards from electric fences have included death by electrocution.

These fences would contravene both the Health and Safety in Employment Act and the Ministry’s Health and Safety Code of Practice. If a board is aware of a hazard at the school, such as the risk of shock or electrocution, and fails to take any steps to eliminate or minimise the risk, the board can be fined under the Act. The board may also be found legally liable under other law, even for harm to trespassers, where it knew of a risk of harm but did not do anything to manage it.

For these reasons boards should think very carefully about installing any fencing that has the potential to harm people.

Dental clinic update

District Health Boards (DHBs) are well underway implementing the new initiatives to enhance the provision of oral health care for our children. For schools, this has meant the decommissioning of some school dental clinics while others are being refurbished by the DHBs under a new lease arrangement between the school board of trustees and the DHB. Some schools have new clinics being built on their sites under the lease arrangement.

For more information on the Ministry of Health’s strategic vision for oral health see the policy document entitled “Good Oral Health for All, For Life: The Strategic Vision for Oral Health in New Zealand” which is available on the MOH website www.moh.govt.nz. In addition the Ministry of Health has just released a brochure called “Its easy to protect your family’s smile”. It talks about New Zealand’s free dental service for children aged between 0 and 17 and contains a lot of information about caring for our children’s teeth. Presented in a bright, colourful format it is informative and easy to read.

Schools can get copies of the brochure to hand out to their students and school families. For a supply of copies contact your local District Health Board.

For more information about dental clinics on school sites see the Ministry of Education's property web pages.

Electrical equipment - testing requirements

Boards of trustees are responsible for keeping students and others free from the risks posed by shock or electrocution from electrical equipment at the school.

Section 7.7 of the Property Management Handbook advises how to test the electrical equipment at your school to make sure it stays safe for use. The section refers to AS/NZS 3760:2003 which is the New Zealand and Australian Standard for in-service safety inspection and testing of electrical equipment. Compliance with this Standard should prevent harm from faulty equipment.

Poker Work machines

A particular concern has arisen from Poker Work Machines. Apparently these are used by schools for burning designs on wood, leather and similar materials. The potential problem with these machines is that can be easily misused. For example, it has been reported that students or others can open the case and tamper with the wiring risking a shock. These should either be taken out of use or carefully more managed.

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Drinking water safety at schools

School boards of trustees are responsible for ensuring a supply of safe drinking water at the school.

Schools on town water supply should be able to rely on the water quality being controlled by local councils. If you are on town supply and have any concerns about the water quality, talk to your local council.

Schools not on town supply are known as ‘self-supplying’ schools and there are around 500 of these in New Zealand. If you are one of these schools, you must comply with the Ministry of Health’s Drinking-Water Standards for New Zealand 2005 which requires regularly water testing for microbiological contamination.

Depending on the source of your water supply, you should also consider testing for other contaminants, for example, industrial discharge, pesticides and fertilisers from farming areas, or waste materials in the ground. If you think there is any risk to your water supply, ask for these additional tests to be done when your water is being tested for microbiological contamination.

Risk Management (Disasters)

Reminder to schools

All disasters must be reported to the Network Facilitator at your local office.

You must get approval from the Network Facilitator before work commences.

Invoices for the work are to be sent to the Network Facilitator in a timely manner.

Note: If the Ministry does not receive project management documentation within one year, then the project budget will be withdrawn (unless specifically approved by the Ministry).

Rubbish bins

With the summer holidays approaching it is preferable to remove rubbish bins from the school grounds, but if rubbish bins are necessary while the school is open please place them against a fireproof wall or somewhere away from the school buildings.

There has been a high incidence of arson to school buildings as a result of fires lit in rubbish bins over the last three years.

Questions and answers

Caretaker properties

Can schools apply for any local or other government insulation and heating grants for their caretaker houses?
No, all caretaker properties already receive property maintenance funding for these costs.

Is there any other financial assistance available for caretaker property maintenance?
Yes, there is an unforseen capital works submission process for local office to put to National Office for any urgent health and safety capital maintenance works that were unforseen i.e. blown pipes (inside walls, ceilings) blown hot water cylinders, rotted walls and floors (covered by carpet, vinyl, wallpaper or paint etc).

Does upgrading the kitchen, bathroom or any other room in a caretaker house qualify for unforseen capital works funding?
No, only health and safety work is covered. New baths, showers, vanity units, heaters, kitchen tops or cupboards, carpet or vinyl, insulation, fireplaces should be replaced using the property maintenance funding.

Any queries please contact Marion Campbell, phone 04 463 7073 or email marion.campbell@minedu.govt.nz.

Playground equipment

Our school has built a new playground using fundraising money. Is it covered under the Ministry's catastrophic loss policy?
Only playgrounds built with Ministry funding, for example 5YA, are covered by the Ministry's catastrophic loss policy. Playgrounds built with board/community funding must be insured by the board. The Ministry will not pay to repair/replace board-funded playgrounds which are damaged or destroyed and which are not insured by the board. See the funding policy for insurance and risk management in Section 3.7 of the Property Management Handbook.