No. Any school employee is banned from being chair or vice-chair of governors, so no-one who is employed as a teacher, headteacher or any other role in the school can be the chair or vice-chair.
This ban is explained in the law for maintained schools and model articles of association for academies.
“A governor who is employed at the school as a teacher or as any other member of the school’s staff is not eligible to be chair or vice-chair of the governing body of that school. “
Roles, Procedures and Allowances (England) 2013
“A trustee who is employed by the academy trust shall not be eligible for election as chair or vice-chair.”
Model Articles of Association (June 2021)
Can a teacher chair a committee?
Yes. Neither the law nor model articles specifically ban teachers or any other school employee from chairing committees, including local governing bodies in academies. Academies should check their terms of reference, however, as it may be forbidden by your particular trust.
Bear in mind that it may not be best practice as staff members may feel unable to ask challenging questions and hold senior leaders to account as rigorously as they may need to.
It could also be difficult if financial issues were being discussed as staff governors may have a conflict of interest because they could benefit financially from decisions the committee might make.
The board must also avoid situations where a teacher might be “marking their own homework”. For example, a teacher chairing a curriculum committee might sound like a good idea, but it can result in a situation where someone is both delivering the curriculum as a teacher and then being asked to evaluate its impact and implementation as a governor.