Functioning of the Bay View High School Governing Body

Since its founding, Bay View High School has had a parent committee. This committee was not a statutory body, but merely served as an advisory body in support of school management structures. Under the SASA (Republic of South Africa, 1996a), Bay View High School, like all government schools, was obliged to put an SGB in place that complied with the stipulations set out in the Act. Parents who serve on the SGB do so without any remuneration and were required to make themselves available for a SGB meeting one evening per month. It was important for the school to ensure that the parents that served on the SGB shared the vision that the school’s existing management structures had for the school going forward. Based on the knowledge of their school constituency, the principal together with senior staff members approached prominent community members to make

themselves available for election onto the SGB. Such chosen community members were actively involved in the schooling of their children. As parents they were also

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often seen at school events and were familiar with the school and community. The first SGB included a local Dutch Reformed minister, an entrepreneur, a housewife and the commander of the local police station (Smit, 2015). Mr Smit explains that members of the SGB bring skills to the SGB that are not found within the members of staff. These members play an advisory role to assist school management in maintaining high levels of functionality at Bay View High School.

By approaching members of the local Afrikaner community to serve on the SGB, the school’s management ensured that they would retain strategic control of all decision making processes at school. Parents on the SGB do so in particular portfolios. These portfolios include finance, policy, discipline and other school matters.

Members from the SGB were selected to serve in a particular portfolio in accordance with their expertise within a specific field. The community members who had made themselves eligible for election to the SGB were allies of the school management. To further comply with the SASA (Republic of South Africa, 1996a), two members of the teaching staff, one member of the administrative personnel and one member of the Learner Representative Council (LRC) complete the SGB.

Mr Grewe (2015), a teacher, explained that it has throughout the years proved to be difficult to fill the two teacher positions on the SGB. Teachers were reluctant to serve on the SGB as the time commitments placed on members of the SGB acted as a deterrent for teachers to serve on the SGB. At Bay View High School the principal has therefore throughout the years approached educators to serve on the SGB. These teachers had a strong allegiance with the principal.

Since the convocation of the first SBG, a SGB meeting was held once a month in accordance with the requirements set out within the SASA (Republic of South Africa, 1996a). The SGB meetings of Bay View High School were always held in the

evening to ensure that all members serving on the SGB are able to attend without it interfering with their professional commitments. The racial and cultural composition of the student-parent community of the school has changed. The neighbourhood within which Bay View High School is located no longer serves exclusively as the school’s feeder area. Learners from various geographic locations now attend this school. In spite of the changes to the school’s constituents, the functioning of the

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SGB have however remained unchanged. Van Wyk (2010:213) reports that by convening the SGB meetings in the evening have prevented the parents of poor children, particularly black children, from serving and participating on SGBs. They often do not have transport, cannot afford public transport, and work irregular or long hours. Mr Smit believes that these reasons, along with the lack of expertise, have contributed to the low representation of parents of the new student body on the SGB.

The agenda of monthly SGBs has, since its establishment, been dominated by financial considerations. The new government model of school funding has placed the responsibility of supplementing school income on the SGB. This is done

primarily by means of school fees. The SGB determines the school fees based on the operational requirements of the school. Mr Smit (2015) explains that the school has ten teachers and two members of the administrative staff that are employed by the SGB. He further remarks that it is necessary for Bay View High School to

employ additional teachers to ensure that the teacher-learner ratio at Bay View High School remains lower than 1:30. Additional teachers are also needed to ensure that the school maintains a subject offering that compares favourably with neighbouring schools. It is Mr Smit’s belief that if the school fails in these objectives, learners would go to neighbouring schools with better teacher-learner ratios and greater subject offerings.

Aside from ensuring that the school’s income is in sound order through establishing and collecting school fees, the SGB serves to ratify the allocation of funds that serves to maintain the existing functional status of Bay View High School. Yearly budgets are submitted to the SGB by the principal, administrative staff and educators whom are responsible for all curricular and extra-curricular activities that are offered at Bay View High School. Once budgets are submitted to the SGB, it becomes the responsibility of the SGB to evaluate the needs of the school and allocate funds in accordance thereto.

Teachers, parents and learners have the opportunity to raise concerns and make suggestions to the SGB, which they believe would serve to improve the school. Mr Smit explained that that suggestions made to the SGB have been 1) to expand the subject offering of Bay View High School, 2) amend the school rules (most notably

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rules that relate to learners’ uniform and appearance), and enquiries that relate to the extra-curricular activities offered at Bay View High School. All reasonable

requests are placed on the agenda and discussed at the monthly SGB meetings. Mr Van Wyk, a previous the chairperson of the SGB, explained that it is the duty of the SGB to consider all requests and to then make a decision that is in the best interest of the school. While the SGB has to be aware of the changes in society, their decisions are made to ensure that the good reputation that the school has built throughout the years is kept intact. According to Mr Van Wyk, the primary reason for not adopting new suggestions placed before the SGB, relates to school funds. As funds are allocated in yearly budgets, no changes to curricular or extra-curricular activities can take place in a current financial year. If changes are accepted it can only be implemented in the following financial year if the budget allows it (personal communication, 2015).

The SGB, as the representative body of parents, has since its original formation been dominated by parents from the white parent body who represent the original constituents of Bay View High School. Members of the SGB make decisions according to what they believe to be in the best interest of the school and its

learners. With the SGB being dominated by white, Afrikaans speaking parents since its initial years, the culture of the predominantly white working-class community remained intact at Bay View High School. This is evident in the school’s Afrikaans Christian ethos, its code of conduct, and curricular activities. In protecting Bay View High School’s cultural identity, the school, by means of its SGB, maintains an identity that does not reflect the cultural identities of its new incoming non-white learners.