Contract renewal process
Approximately 9 months (or 4 months if the contract is for 1 year or less) before the expiry of the contract, the Regional Director (or nominee) will contact the principal to advise them when the contract renewal process will be initiated. At this time they will also obtain contact details for the current School Council President.
The formal process of contract renewal will commence at least 6 months (or 3 months if the contract is for 1 year or less) prior to the expiry of the contract, and will be informed by the performance and development cycle reports that occurred during that contract period.
The Regional Director will consider the performance of the principal during the contract period and any other factors relevant to contract renewal. As part of these deliberations the Regional Director may decide to meet with the principal to clarify issues that emerge or the principal has the option of presenting their achievements and future vision and plans for the school and their role in it for consideration.
The Regional Director will provide principals with specific feedback on the distinguishing features of their performance during the contract period to assist the system to acknowledge and affirm principals’ work.
Following consideration of the principal’s performance during the contract period, advice from the regional team, the School Council President, and any other relevant factors, the Regional Director (or nominee) will meet with the principal no later than 6 months prior to the expiration of the contract with a view to reaching agreement on the renewal of the principal’s contract.
Where a Regional Director is prepared to agree to renew a principal’s contract but for a period of less than 5 years or is not prepared to agree to renew a principal’s contract, the reasons will be clearly documented. Where there are performance issues these will be clearly identified together with the improvement sought over the new contract period. Support to be provided by the Region will also be specified.
The Regional Director will be expected to confirm that the issues of concern were raised with the principal during the contract period so that the principal had the opportunity to address the issues of concern with regional support.
Reviewed 10 June 2020
