While I sympathise with many of the views expressed by David Hart in his article “We must clamp down on rogue governors” (TES, February 21), I strongly disagree with his suggestion that governors’ meetings should be held during school hours and not in the evenings.
As a governor of a large JMI in a predominantly middle-class village in the Home Counties, I believe daytime meetings would effectively exclude a large proportion of my colleagues from active involvement.
Many are professionals with demanding jobs, some self-employed with little chance of compensated release from their work, some are in small business which can ill afford to release staff on a regular basis, and some commute long distances to work and would therefore require at least a half-day to attend a meeting during the day.
Few of us relish the thought of a two to three hour governors’ meeting after a 10 to 12-hour working day, but the suggested alternative would disenfranchise most of us. Is Mr Hart being disingenuous in arguing for daytime meetings to spare us poor governors from an inefficiently long day, or is he really expressing a concern for his fellow heads who certainly shoulder a significant burden of evening commitments but at least - dare I say it - enjoy relatively long holidays and most weekends off in which to replenish their energy?
ALAN HUGHES Chairman of governors Knebworth county JMI school Knebworth Hertfordshire
