There is no overall limit on how many parents can be governors or trustees in either the law for maintained schools or model articles of association for academies.
However, it is a good idea to keep an eye on the number of parents on the board and consider restricting their numbers. This article explains why.
(Note that when I refer to “parents” in this article I mean parents whose child attends the same school where they are a governor.)
Maintained School Parent Governors
Single maintained schools must have at least two parent governors. Federated maintained schools must have only two.
Parents of registered pupils are also legally eligible for every other governor role at a maintained school except partnership governor.
A parent who wants to be a staff governor must work for the school. If they want to be a parent governor then on the date of their election or appointment they must not work for the school for more than 500 hours per year or be an elected LA member.
The law does not place an overall limit on the number of parents of registered pupils who can sit on the board.
Academy Parent Trustees
Single academy trusts must have at least two parent trustees. Multi-academy trusts must have either at least two parent trustees or at least two parent local governors on each local governing body.
Whether parents of registered pupils are eligible for other trustee or local governor roles will depend on the rules set by the academy trust.
I have never seen articles or terms of reference that set an overall limit on parents of registered pupils sitting on a trust board or local governing body.
Should boards place their own limit on the overall number of parents?
Possibly. Boards do need to consider the balance between staff, parents and independent people who have no other connection to the school.
If parents are appointed to many of the roles outside of the specific parent governor positions it could result in a very parent-heavy board. In many maintained schools you could follow the law to the letter and still end up with a board where every single governor is a parent of a registered pupil!
A parent-heavy board could cause problems. Some parents may not feel able to properly challenge the headteacher because they think it might affect their child’s schooling. Others may be overly supportive because their child is doing well and they are grateful or don’t wish to rock the boat.
Any governor is appointed or elected to serve in the best interests of the whole school, but a few parents may wish to focus on issues that are most relevant to their child. In the worst case scenario meetings may start to feel like parent councils rather than board meetings.
A sensible rough balance might be a maximum of one third parents. The one-third figure reflects the three groups of stakeholders: parents, staff and people from the community with no other connection to the school.
This is only a rough suggestion and I would not expect boards to stick to it rigidly, not least because they wouldn’t be able to! The board itself does not control all the appointments/elections and governors should largely be appointed or elected for their skills.