Hogwarts Board of Governors (was Re: DADA...)

[GulPlum]

No: HPFGUIDX 44213

(I'm desperately trying to catch up on old posts; I've been otherwise 
engaged for the last couple of days and promise that I'll eventually get 
around to commenting in the etymology threads I started!)

In a rather old post (a couple of weeks back), yr awen asked a question I 
can't see anyone has answered (I'm delaying sending this until I've caught 
up - perhaps someone *has* answered it!):

>I would imagine that *Dumbledore* considers DADA to be an important part 
>of the curriculum -- if he didn't, he wouldn't have gone through all that 
>effort to get Lupin on staff. I think he's sensing the potential for 
>Voldemort's return and is taking steps to prepare the students, but finds 
>himself running up against the recalcitrance of the school board. This 
>brings me to a question for the British contingent of the list: is the 
>Board of Governors a fixture in public schools(that is, I guess, 
>fee-paying boarding schools)? If so, do they exclusively control the 
>hiring of new faculty, or do they take the Headmaster's suggestion and 
>then vote on it? Or does the Headmaster/mistress exercise that power and 
>deal with the board's furor later on?

The Board of Governors is a fixture in *all* English & Welsh schools, 
regardless of whether they're state- or privately- funded, day schools or 
boarding (I'm not entirely sure of the specifics of the Scottish situation; 
the legal and educational system in Scotland is slightly different).

My sister is on the Board of her son's (state-funded, primary) school and 
all recruitment, from the headmaster down to the cleaning staff, is the 
responsibility of the Board. My nephew's school was brand-spanking-new and 
the Board was formed (from local residents and parents of potential pupils) 
even before the building was finished; the Board even determined who got 
the contracts for landscaping and interior finishing, and what the specific 
layout was going to be, although before building completion, they appointed 
the headmaster who was consulted on every detail. When it came to 
individual teachers, the headmaster was part of the interviewing process 
(after all, he's the one with the teaching experience and he's the one who 
has to manage the staff!), but it is the Board who employs them and makes 
the final choice, not the headmaster. AFAIK, my sister's Board has never 
yet vetoed the headmaster's recommendations when it came to hiring 
teachers, although they would be within their rights to do so.

Private schools are run in exactly the same way; in fact, the Board of 
Governors becomes even more important, as private schools are invariably 
set up as charitable foundations (oh, the irony! Rich people depending on 
charitable status!) and the Board of Governors is usually also the 
Charitable Foundation's Trustees (or at least the Trustees are a 
sub-section of the Board of Governors). They are therefore responsible not 
only for teaching quality, but spending the money wisely and the reputation 
of the school.

In the case of Hogwarts staff appointments, I'm sure that having appointed 
a headmaster, the Board largely leave individual staffing to him, and just 
rubber-stamp his decisions. However, because the wizarding community is 
quite closed, I would expect everyone to know everyone else and Lupin's 
employment doubtless caused more than a few raised eyebrows. I can't 
believe that *nobody* knew about his lycanthropy!

As a wealthy pillar of wizarding society (and a son at the school), I'm 
sure that Lucius Malfoy really went to town on Dumbledore after Lupin's 
firing, and I'm surprised he didn't do so at the time of his hiring. This 
may yet become a minor plot point...