Frequently asked questions for governors
Q. Can a person be a governor at more than one school?
A. Yes. A governor can serve on as many governing bodies as they want.
Governing body meetings
Q. How often is the full governing body required to meet?
A. A governing body must meet at least three times per school year.
Q. How much notice should be given?
A. All members are entitled to have at least 7 clear days written notice of the date and the agenda of the meeting, unless something has to be discussed urgently.
Q. How many people need to attend?
A. There must be at least a certain number of governors (a quorum) for a meeting to take place. The quorum for governing body meetings is one half of governors (not including vacancies).
Q. What time of day are meetings held?
A. It is up to the governors to decide on the timing of a meeting and to fix the arrangements which suit them best.
Q. What about other meetings at school?
A. Besides meetings of the whole governing body there may be meetings of committees for areas like the curriculum or finance. Associate governors can be appointed to these committees and can be given limited voting rights by the governing body.
Q. Who else attends meetings?
A. Associates may attend at the discretion of the governing body. If the Headteacher is not a governor he or she still has the right to attend.
Other people may be invited to attend, for example, an LA advisor or Inspector might attend a meeting where a curriculum matter is on the agenda; a member of the ethnic minority community could be invited to discuss relevant matters in relation to equal opportunities and the curriculum.
Q. What if I don't understand something on the agenda?
A. Try to contact your Chair before the meeting to discuss any difficulties you may be having. You can also contact the Governors Support & Advisory Service.
If you wish to raise an item for discussion, discuss this with the Chair prior to the agenda being set.
Meetings are important as they are the only way to take decisions and to make policy within the framework laid down by the law.
Decisions are usually made by the governing body as a whole agreement or on a majority vote after discussion. They are then recorded and acted upon.
You will receive and be expected to read a lot of information for each governing body meeting. It is important that you are aware of this. The information is provided to help you in your decision making.
Disqualification
Q. After what period of non-attendance can a governor be disqualified?
A. Governors who have not attended meetings for a continuous period of six months from the first meeting of absence can be disqualified from the governing body.
The governing body may agree not to accept apologies from governors who continually miss meetings.
Q. Can an ex-officio governor be disqualified due to non-attendance?
A. No. A governor is ex-officio by virtue of being in a particular post.
The Headteacher is an ex-officio governor and in a Church school the vicar or priest of the school's founding church also has the same status.
Attendance
Q. What is the process for dealing with non-attendance at meetings by governors?
A. The LA has a procedure in place to deal with non-attendance at governing body meetings at schools who have bought into the clerking service.
The Governors' Support & Advisory Service monitors attendance and after six months non-attendance, from the date of first non-attendance, at the request of the governing body, a letter is sent to the governor informing them that they will be disqualified.
There may be exceptional circumstances involved which need to be relayed to the Chair.
If there is no response after two weeks, then the governor is removed.
Q. Are apologies counted as attendance?
A. Yes. However, governors can choose not to accept apologies.
Terms of office
Q. How long is a governors term of office?
A. A term of office for all categories of governor is four years but the governing body can decide to set a shorter term of office for one or more categories of governor.
If the term of office is shorter than four years, this has to be recorded in the instrument of government.
The term of office cannot be shorter than one year and cannot be varied for individual governors
Any governor may at any time resign by giving written notice to the clerk.
Q. Does a Headteacher have a term of office?
A. No. The Headteacher is ex-officio by virtue of being in that particular post.
The Headteacher may choose not to be a governor but this will give them no voting rights.
If they choose not to be a governor under the new constitution the governing body will always have a staff vacancy.
End of term of office
Q. What happens when a governor's term of office ends.
A. At the end of a governors term of office, arrangements should be made to fill the vacancy.
Governors may stand again for re-election or re-appointment if they are still eligible. An item is placed on the next full governing body agenda to indicate that there is a vacancy.
Sometimes governors choose not to continue to serve in office. If so, they should inform the chair or headteacher in writing.
Time off
Q. How much time off work should an employer give an employee to undertake their role as a school governor?
A. Under employment law, an employer must give 'reasonable' time off work to their employees to undertake governors duties.
The actual amount of time off has to be negotiated with the employer. However, employers are not obliged to give this time off with pay.
The DfES recommend that employers give a minimum of six days per year to their employees to undertake the role of school governor.
Expenses
Q. Can governors claim expenses for attending governor training?
A. Governing bodies can now pay their members' expenses in addition to travel and subsistence, if they so wish.
It is up to the governing body to set down the allowances that can be paid out.
If governors agree to pay expenses, they will have to adopt a policy.
Associate members of the governing body
Q. What is the role of associate members on governing bodies?
A. The governing body can appoint associate members to serve on one or more governing body committees and attend full governing body meetings.
The definition of associate member is wide and pupils, school staff and people who want to contribute specifically on issues related to their areas of expertise (for instance finance) can be appointed as associate members.
Associate members are not governors and they are not recorded on the instrument of government.
Q. Can an associate member take part in all discussions of the governing body?
A. Associate members may be excluded from any part of the meeting when the business concerns an individual member of staff or a pupil.
They may not vote on any resolution concerning admissions, pupil discipline, election or appointment of governors or budget and financial commitments of the governing body.
Q. Who can attend governors meetings?
A. The governing body determines who attends their meetings,this may include non-members of the governing body.
Meetings
Q. Can parents attend governors meetings?
A. Parents have no right to attend governing body meetings.
Attendance at governing body meetings is decided by the governors themselves. The governing body can invite associates to meetings.
Q. Can governors other than the chair request a meeting?
A. Yes. Any three governors can request a meeting by writing to the clerk.
The clerk must convene such a meeting as soon as reasonably practicable. A minimum of 7 days notice must be given.
Minutes
Q. Who has access to governing body minutes?
A. The minutes are a public document once they have been agreed by the governing body.
The minutes should be available in school for anyone to inspect. This also applies to committee minutes. Confidential minutes should be kept separately and are not public documents.