School dome Ronduit wants to say goodbye to director-administrator Jan Zijp. The Supervisory Board receives the support of the joint participation council to dismiss the CEO of Ronduit. Zijp was already inactive, but this week the education director also received the letter of resignation.
Both parties have not wanted to provide clarity for months about the background of the split between Zijp and Ronduit, but that could change on Thursday. Then a lawsuit filed by Zijp will be filed, media partner reports Alkmaar Central†
What is Outright Education?
Eighteen locations for primary education in the municipality of Alkmaar are affiliated with the Ronduit Onderwijs school umbrella.
Nine Spinaker locations also fall under Ronduit Education. Pupils from 4 to 18 years old from Castricum to the Kop van Noord-Holland and West-Friesland can go here for special education.
At the end of November, the Supervisory Board of Ronduit suddenly announced Zijp’s departure as of 1 February. The director-administrator was at the helm of the school umbrella for almost seventeen years. The departure date was postponed by several months because the joint participation council was concerned about the continuity of the board.
When local politicians got wind of the conflict in January, Zijp was still suspended. The skirmishes between management and Supervisory Board eventually led to the departure of two of the four members of the Supervisory Board, because the Alkmaar city council has a reversed previous reappointment dissatisfied with the regulators.
The other board members also joined in the fight. On the day of the city council meeting, 17 out of 20 board members trust in the Supervisory Board. In the eyes of the school directors, he had not acted properly, as a result of which Ronduit suffered reputational damage. There was confidence in the Director of Operations Jethro Nieuwenhuis and the Director of Education & Quality Wytze Niezen. They now temporarily control the school umbrella.
‘People want to get back into education’
The resignation of two members of the Supervisory Board has not led to a change of direction on the part of the supervisors. A controversial increase in the own remuneration for supervisors is not being reversed. The farewell to Zijp has not been reconsidered either. Yet everyone is on speaking terms with each other again, says Ronduit spokesman Gjerryt Leuverink: “There is a need for peace and quiet and people now want to move forward. They want to get involved with education again”.
Interim director Jethro Nieuwenhuis wants to emphasize that the administrative difficulties have not paralyzed education: “Outright and the schools have also been running fine recently, despite the unrest. That gives a lot of confidence,” says Nieuwenhuis. “We are now continuing to work together on peace and continuity, it is time to look ahead again.”
Ronduit also emphasizes that the entire organization greatly appreciates Zijp’s efforts ‘prior to this situation’: “The Supervisory Board has always shown this, in word and deed, and we do not detract from that. We sincerely hope that he will find a new path outside the foundation.”