Jointly managed schools
Concurrent with the growth of a variety of shared education programmes, some controlled and maintained schools have expressed an interest in establishing what has been termed by stakeholders a ‘jointly managed church school’, where both the representatives of the Transferor churches and the Catholic Church working together have a joint role in the management of the school.
In response, the Department of Education worked closely with the Transferor Representatives’ Council, which represents the Church of Ireland, Presbyterian and Methodist Churches, and representatives of the Catholic Trustees to consider how the concept may be implemented within the current legislative framework.
The Department provided guidance via a circular, which can be accessed via the link below, on key issues which stakeholders must consider and agree upon when planning to bring forward any proposal to establish a school of this type. All those bringing forward a proposal to establish a school of this type must have regard to the content of the circular.
This is a new concept and while the Department has endeavoured to cover all pertinent issues in the circular, it is recognised that, as these schools are established through the Development Proposal process, there may be a need to further supplement, or amend this circular.