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Ministry of Education New Zealand

Staffing entitlement for schools

We give schools a staffing entitlement which funds 1 year of full-time teacher equivalents (FTTEs). It's up to your school board to work out how many staff you could employ based on the amount of staffing your school gets for that year.

You need to monitor how your school uses its staffing entitlement throughout the year in order to achieve a nil balance by pay period 22. You can contact a financial advisor in your region for advice.

What banking staffing is

Schools can save up or bank their staffing by going under their staffing entitlement. Schools can go over or under their staffing entitlement by 10% as long as they meet the initial entitlement by the end of pay period 22.

Our guide details how banking staffing works and what reports you can refer to manage usage.

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Monitoring staffing entitlement use

Your school can download a report from Education Payroll (EdPay) every 2 weeks that shows if you are over- or under-using your annual entitlement. This is called a banking staffing report. The report lists:

  • the names of any teachers who were paid from teachers’ salaries
  • how many full-time teacher equivalents (FTTEs) each teacher has used.
  • a summary of staffing usage and entitlement for the year to date.

You can view the report for your school in EdPay if you are an authorised user.

To become an authorised user, download and complete the EP5 form.

EdPay and forms – Education Payroll

You can view your staffing entitlement in real time in Pourato. This may look different to your report depending on when the change to your staffing occurs.

Pourato

Contact us if you have questions about your staffing usage.

Email: [email protected]

You should aim for a nil balance on your banking staffing report by the end of the year (pay period 22).

What happens at the end of the banking staffing year (pay period 22)

If you have under- or over-used your entitlement, you can use the start of the school year (pay periods 23-26) to get back to a nil balance. The balancing period is when you can make final changes to your previous year’s staffing.

At the end of the staffing year, any unused special reasons staffing will be deducted from your final underuse position.

We will send your school a letter in April via the secure data portal that states your final position for the year.

Overused entitlement

If you have overused your entitlement:

  • We will recover funds for any staffing usage above your entitlement. This comes out of your operational funding.
  • We may not allow you to anticipate your staffing entitlement during the next year if you have exceeded it by more than 10%.

The recovery rate for 2024 is $94,500 ($108,675.00 including GST).

Underused entitlements

From the 2024 staffing year, only Kaupapa Māori and Māori medium education settings can be reimbursed for any underused banked staffing. They may be reimbursed for all underused entitlement, up to a maximum of 10% of their total staffing entitlement

Eligible education settings are:

  • Kura Kaupapa Māori affiliated to Te Rūnanga Nui
  • Kura-a-Iwi affiliated to Ngā Kura a Iwi
  • Kura Mana Motuhake with all ākonga learning at Māori language immersion levels 1 and 2.

Rumaki Reo Rua with ākonga learning at Māori language immersion levels 1 and 2 are entitled to reimbursements. The maximum reimbursement is based on the proportion of ākonga studying at Māori language immersion levels 1 and 2 on the 1 July roll return.

Changes to your affiliation or number of ākonga learning at Māori language immersion levels 1 and 2 may affect your eligibility.

Underused staffing will be offset against any special reasons staffing your board has been allocated. Any remaining underused staffing may then be reimbursed.

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  • Education professionals