ASHHURST SCHOOL BOARD MEETING ENTERS HOUR FOUR AS THERMOS PARENT REFUSES TO CEDE FLOOR
She brought soup. She brought printouts. The Chair brought regret.
An Ashhurst School board meeting scheduled to finish at 8pm on Tuesday was still going at 11.47pm. One parent had arrived with a two-litre thermos and no intention of leaving until item 14 was resolved.
The parent, Fiona Aitcheson, is new to the district. She and her husband moved up from Island Bay in April. She'd come to raise concerns about the pickup lane and the sausage sizzle roster. She also flagged what she called "a structural failure of communication" around mufti day.
"I'm not here to make enemies," Aitcheson told the room at 9.15pm, pouring her fourth cup of pumpkin soup. "I'm here to ask why the newsletter goes out on a Thursday. Working parents are demonstrably at their busiest."
Board chair Deborah Sturrock had earlier described the agenda as "tight". At 10.40pm she was seen quietly Googling how long a meeting can legally run. Another parent, Greg Willmott, said he'd only come to drop off a raffle book. He'd now missed the second half of the rugby. "She's got laminated tabs," he said. "Laminated. Tabs."
A staff member, speaking on condition of not being named because "I still have to see her at assembly", said the thermos was the tell. "Anyone who brings hot liquid to a 7pm meeting is planning to be there at 11. That's a Wellington move. We're not built for it."
The meeting adjourned without resolving item 14. Aitcheson has requested it be moved to the top of next month's agenda. She has offered to bring scones.
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Reader Letters
TrevJones
Four hours for a meeting! Ridiculous.
Wayne1975
Fiona's dedication is impressive. We need more like her.
couchgremlin
Lol. Thermos tactics.
Garry (Halswell)
Mate, who has time for this? I remember when school meetings were just a quick chat in the hall. You'd be in and out in under an hour. Now it's all agendas and laminated tabs. Back in my day, we sorted things out without a fuss.
PalmyPundit
Thermos? Typical Wellington trick. They got too much wind to not blow over their energy on school boards!
SharonM
Wow, Greg missed his rugby for this? Now that's a piss-take!
tired_teacher99
Can’t believe they’re dragging this on over mufti day. Talk about blowing hot air. Bet Fiona’s next meeting plan involves camping chairs!
hayden12
@PalmyPundit, she's not from Wellington anymore, mate. She's one of us now, like it or not.