School employees can serve as governors at their own school, but there are limits on the number of employees who can sit on the governing body. There are also restrictions on the types of governor a school employee can be.
This page explains the rules for employees who become governors at the school where they work. (School staff are also allowed to govern at a different school and this is actively encouraged by the National Governance Association.)
Law For Maintained Schools
The relevant law for maintained schools is found in the Constitution (England) Regulations 2012.
What type of governor can a school employee be?
Maintained school employees can be:
- the staff governor
- co-opted governors (but only within the limits explained below)
- parent governors (but only if they work for the school for 500 hours per year or less), and
- foundation governors (if the diocese or foundation body allow it).
Maintained school employees cannot be:
- the local authority governor
- partnership governors.
The 500 hours rule for parent governors is explained in a separate article on parent governors who work for the school. There is also a place on the governing body reserved for the headteacher, which cannot be taken by any other employee if the headteacher resigns as a governor.
” A person is disqualified from election or appointment as a parent governor of a school if the person…is paid to work at the school for more than 500 hours in any twelve consecutive months.
“A person is disqualified from appointment as a local authority governor if the person is eligible to be a staff governor of the school.
“A person is disqualified from nomination or appointment as a partnership governor of a school if the person is…eligible to be a staff governor of the school.”
Constitution (England) Regulations 2012
How many co-opted governors can be school employees?
In maintained schools there is a limit to the number of co-opted governors who can be employed by the school.
The number of co-opted governors who are school employees must not exceed one third of the total board when added to the staff governor and the headteacher.
“The total number of co-opted governors who are also eligible to be elected as staff governors, when counted with the staff governor and the head teacher, must not exceed one third of the total membership of the governing body.”
Constitution (England) Regulations 2012
So if you have nine governors in total on your board you can only have one co-opted governor, because that co-opted governor plus the head plus the staff governor equals three out of nine, so one-third of the board exactly.
The rule is not simply that a maximum of one third of governors overall can be employed by the school. It is only the number of co-opted governors who are employed by the school that are added to the head and staff governor, not governors from any other category.
Co-opted Governor Calculations For Maintained Schools
If you have seven to 11 total governors you can have only one co-opted school employee.
If you have 12 to 14 total governors you can have two co-opted school employees.
If you have 15 to 17 total governors you can have three co-opted school employees.
If you have 18 to 20 total governors you can have four co-opted school employees.
Here are some more detailed examples to show what happens in specific situations.
Example one – the board has 12 governors overall, with two co-opted governors who are school employees. The headteacher, plus the staff governor, plus two co-opted school employees equals four out of 12, so one third exactly. This school cannot appoint another employee as a co-opted governor.
However, if the school advertises for a parent governor and one of their lunchtime supervisors wins the election that is fine. The total number of governors who are employees is now greater than a third, but the law permits that (and parent governors can work for the school within the 500 hours limit).
Example two – the board has 15 governors overall, with three co-opted governors who are school employees. No more co-opted employees can be appointed. However, it is a faith school and the diocese can appoint a foundation governor who is a school employee if they wish.
What if we have vacancies on the board?
Ignore vacancies when making these calculations – it is the total number of governors in your constitution that count, so the total number of positions shown on your instrument of government.
Say you had 12 governors in total, including two co-opted governors who are employed by the school. Remember that these two governors are added to the head and the staff governor in this sum.
Your LA governor resigns leaving you with 11 governors in total and one vacancy, but the board does not have to remove one of its co-opted governors who are school employees, even though 4/11 is more than one-third.
(If the board did have to include vacancies when making these calculations they would immediately be able to reinstate the co-opted employee as soon as a new LA governor was appointed. But would then have to remove the co-opted employee again if the new LA governor resigned…in other words, the rule wouldn’t work in practice.)
Having said that, boards should always try to fill vacancies and keep an eye on situations where the board has become staff-heavy, but they don’t have to immediately jettison a co-opted employee if a vacancy arises.
What if someone is paid by the school but not employed?
The law restricts the number of co-opted governors who are “also eligible to be elected as staff governors”. A person is eligible to be a staff governor if they are employed by either the governing body itself or the local authority under a contract.
Therefore if someone does not have a contract at the school, perhaps providing a service to the school and invoicing them or working as a self-employed flute teacher for example, they do not need to be counted in the one-third rule.
“In these Regulations “staff governor” means a person who—
(a) is elected in accordance with Schedule 2 as a governor by persons who are employed by either the governing body or the local authority under a contract of employment providing for those persons to work at the school, and
(b) is so employed at the time of election.”
Constitution (England) Regulations 2012
Can school employees be associate members?
Yes. There are no legal limits on the number of associate members who are school employees, although all associate members should be appointed for their skills.
Boards should also try to maintain a decent balance between different stakeholders: school employees, parents and members of the community.
Rules For Academies
The Academy Trust Handbook recommends that the only trust employee to serve as a trustee is the senior executive leader, so the CEO or principal. The Handbook says that no other employees should be trustees.
“Any newly appointed senior executive leader can only be a trustee if the members decide to appoint them as such, the senior executive leader agrees and the trust’s articles permit it. No other employees should serve as trustees.”
Academy Trust Handbook
However, many academies do have staff trustees, so check your own articles to see how many staff trustees are allowed.
The current model articles of association allow academy trust employees to be trustees as long as the total number of trust employees does not exceed one third of the total board.
“The total number of trustees [including the [chief executive officer]/[principal] if they so choose to act as trustee who are employees of the academy trust shall not exceed one third of the total number of trustees.”
Model Articles of Association (June 2021)
The model articles also specify that academy employees cannot be appointed as co-opted trustees if this would result in more than one third of trustees in total being employees.
“The trustees may not co-opt an employee of the academy trust as a co-opted trustee if thereby the number of trustees who are employees of the academy trust would exceed one third of the total number of trustees [including the [chief executive officer]/[principal] to the extent they are a trustee].”
Model Articles of Association (June 2021)
Can academy members be employed by their academy trust?
No. The Academy Trust Handbook (and the model articles of association) forbid any academy member from being an employee of their own trust.
The Academy Trust Handbook also makes it clear that members cannot take on staff roles even as unpaid volunteers.
“Members must not be employees of the trust, nor occupy staff establishment roles on an unpaid voluntary basis.”
Academy Trust Handbook
“An employee of the academy trust cannot be a member of the academy trust.”
Model Articles of Association (June 2021)
Can local governors be academy employees?
The rules for local governing bodies are set by each academy trust, so check the terms of reference for a local board to see whether academy employees can join. The LGB may adopt a similar “one-third only” rule to the total number of local governors who can be trust employees.