The Ministry of Education may face a legal battle over its decision to close Auckland's controversial Metropolitan College.
Education Minister Trevor Mallard has decided to shut the school, saying it is not offering a quality education.
The move follows a number of damming Education Review Office reports, including one which recommended Metro College be closed.
But Deputy Director Bob Beechey says the school does not believe the ministry followed the correct procedures. He says Metropolitan College may challenge the decision in the High Court, although this would be a huge cost.
Beechey says the school may yet re-emerge in a new guise. He says there are plans to provide some form of alternative education from the site under the management of Mount Albert Grammar next year.
A former principal of the college says the decision to close the school is the right one, and may be partially based on information not publicly known.
John Vogt says the school had lost direction and the decision to close it was probably the only option left.
Parents of students at the alternative college are upset the school is being closed down.
Bernard Hall, whose son attends the school, says it fulfils a special educational need for students with learning or behavioural problems, which will be hard to replicate.
Hall says parents are angry they have not been widely consulted about the closure, and the future education of many students is now in jeopardy.
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