She rejected the characterisation of the trip, saying it was scheduled to coincide with her attendance at the 2024 SPANZ Conference.<\/p>\n
Haeata Community Campus principal Peggy Burrows.<\/p>\n
According to Burrows, she and five senior leadership staff engaged in \u201ca board-sanctioned programme of professional learning, leadership development and team strengthening\u201d in the resort town.<\/p>\n
She combined the sensitive expenditure allowance from 2023 and 2024 to facilitate the group trip, a move she said was consistent with the fund\u2019s guidelines.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe board formally approved the expenditure at its May 20, 2024, hui, commending the manukura\u2019s commitment to investing her allowance directly into her team,\u201d a school spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAirfares were booked well in advance to secure the lowest fares, and accommodation was negotiated at the same rate offered to principals attending the SPANZ conference. <\/p>\n
\u201cDuring the haerenga [trip], the SLT [senior leadership team] also visited Wakatipu High School, a comparable PPP [public-private partnership] school, gaining insights directly relevant to Haeata\u2019s operations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other schools flagged over their spending<\/a> were Hamilton\u2019s Glenview School ($29,458 on overseas trips to Canada, Vietnam and Samoa) and Fairfield College ($17,155 for the principal\u2019s Alaska, Canada, Hawai\u2019i and New York trip).<\/p>\n The now-former principal of Napier\u2019s Maraenui Bilingual School also used $9086 to attend a tangi, and $7058 for them and a family member\u2019s trip to Rarotonga.<\/p>\n Auditors flagged issues in 64 reports overall, with 15 schools identified as being in \u201cserious financial difficulty\u201d, the Auditor-General\u2019s report said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe drew attention to some spending on personal travel for the principal and, in some instances, companions because there was no clear business purpose for it,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n \u201cIn some instances, there was a lack of documentation or receipts to support the business purpose of the principal\u2019s travel. For most of these, there was a clear business rationale for the travel, but there was additional travel and spending (such as on tourist activities) that appeared to be personal in nature.<\/p>\n \u201cAny personal travel incorporated into business travel should be at no additional cost to the school.\u201d<\/p>\n Haeata Community Campus, located in Christchurch\u2019s Wainoni, was the subject of scrutiny last week after the school claimed its lunch meals, forming part of the Government\u2019s school lunch programme, were delivered mouldy<\/a>.<\/p>\n Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour challenged the school\u2019s claims<\/a> the expired meals were delivered by contractor Compass Group, suggesting the school could instead be to blame for the incident.<\/p>\nThe Auditor-General has flagged dozens of schools for their spending of public funds in its 2024 annual report. Photo \/ 123rf<\/p>\n