School Board & Policies

School Board

The school board is responsible for the governance of Hutt Valley High School. The School Board is an important part of our school as they set the strategic direction for our school, consult with our school community about our school, ensure the school’s funding is spent wisely and ensure that we are giving effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi within our school.

School Board Elections – Call for Nominations for Parent Representatives

Every three years, state school communities elect their parent and staff representatives to help govern their schools.  Our Board is made up of five parent representatives, the Principal, a staff representative elected by the staff and a student representative elected by the students.

On Friday, 18 July, parents and caregivers were emailed information from Election Pilot (our school’s Returning Officer) about the upcoming school board elections. Nominations are now open for five parent representative positions on the Hutt Valley High School Board.  

What skills are needed to be a parent representative? The board does require a couple of parent representatives to have specialist skills and experience; however, we also want to receive nominations across our diverse community. If you’re passionate about education and our community and are excited to help shape the future of our school, then please consider nominating yourself.

To nominate yourself or someone else:

  • Visit the Election Pilot website to complete an online nomination form, or
  • Pick up a printed nomination form from the School Office (open 8am–4pm, Monday to Friday).

All nominations must be received by midday on Wednesday, 6 August 2025. If you have any questions, please contact Election Pilot on 0800 VOTE NZ (0800 868 369) or email election@electionpilot.nz.

Key Dates for the Board Elections for Parent Representatives

  • Call for parent nominations by Friday, 18 July
  • Nominations close at 12pm on Wednesday, 6 August
  • Voting papers issued by Wednesday, 13 August
  • Election day is Wednesday, 10 September, poll closes at 4pm
  • Counting of votes on Tuesday, 16 September
  • Board election results declared on Wednesday, 17 September
  • Board takes office at the first board meeting on Wednesday 8 October

If you have any questions about the election process, please contact our Returning Officer directly on 0800 VOTENZ (0800 868 369) or election@electionpilot.nz

Board Elections – Student Representative

Key Dates for the Board Elections for the Student Representative

  • Call for student nominations by Tuesday, 19 August
  • Nominations close at 12pm on Monday, 25 August
  • Voting papers issued by Sunday, 31 August
  • Election day is Wednesday, 10 September, poll closes at 4pm
  • Counting of votes on Tuesday, 16 September
  • Board election results declared on Wednesday, 17 September
  • Board takes office at the first board meeting on Wednesday 8 October

Information will be shared with students in Term 3 via Google Classroom and in the school newsletter.

Board Members

The board members are:

  • Denise Johnson – Principal (on sabbatical leave, returning at the start of term 4)
  • Tim Fox – Co-Acting Principal
  • Fiona Pearson – Co-Acting Principal
  • Miranda Cross – Presiding Member/Parent Representative
  • Charles Darr – Parent Representative
  • Susan Dunne – Parent Representative
  • Jacinta Laulau – Parent Representative
  • Mike Pewhairangi – Parent Representative
  • Tyson Szeto – Student Representative
  • Jason Tierney – Staff Representative
  • James Wilkinson – Parent Representative

Also in attendance at board meetings are:

  • Lana Goddard – Board Secretary

To contact the board, please email Board Secretary, Lana Goddard at lana.goddard@hvhs.school.nz. If you wish to contact the Presiding Member directly, please email Miranda Cross at chair@hvhs.school.nz.

Board Meetings

Board Meetings for 2025

The board has scheduled its 2025 meetings for 26 February, 2 April, 21 May, 25 June, 6 August, 3 September, 8 October, 5 November and 3 December.

Board meetings are held in public. All members of the Hutt Valley High School community are welcome to attend.  The provisions of Part 7 of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 apply to some sensitive issues discussed ‘in committee’.   If you wish to attend a meeting, please email Board Secretary, Lana Goddard at lana.goddard@hvhs.school.nz

Board Minutes

Please find below copies of the approved minutes for the 2024 and 2025 board meetings:

Governance Manual

Find out more about Hutt Valley High School’s governance framework in the Governance Manual

Plans & Reports

School Policies & Procedures

Hutt Valley High School uses SchoolDocs’ services for storing policies and procedure documents.

Please click on the link below to view the policies of Hutt Valley High School’s school board. When you’re prompted for a username and password, please enter the following:

  • SchoolDocs website: https://www.schooldocs.co.nz/
  • Click on the ‘Search for your school’ button and enter Hutt Valley High School
  • Username: hvhs
  • Password: Adalta

Once you’ve logged in you’ll see the screen below and you can search for Hutt Valley High School’s policies.

SchoolDocs image for logging into the Hutt Valley High School policies page.