Neil J. Ericksen
(Ōpōtiki College old bloke, 1954-1957)

Board chairman Danny Pararu rightly emphasised that the quality of outcomes from the proposed strategic plan for Ōpōtiki College will depend upon the quality of not only its objectives, but also their implementation (Ōpōtiki News, July 31).

I speak about this topic from my experience leading a long-term research programme (1994-2008) aimed at evaluating the environmental outcomes from policies and plans prepared by regional and district councils.

In essence, we found many councils that had prepared good quality policies and plans nevertheless had rather poor environmental outcomes.

This seemingly counter-intuitive result was due to the poor implementation of their policies and plans.

What is more, good quality outcomes were almost always associated with good quality leaders.

Getting the best possible principal for Ōpōtiki College is, in my view, crucial for effective policy development and implementation. I was, therefore, surprised to read that lack of housing in Ōpōtiki is an impediment to attracting an excellent school principal. May I suggest that the board of trustees consider “crowd funding” to cover the cost of renting a home for the principal. In my day, Ōpōtiki College had a schoolhouse for the principal.