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Aorangi School in Christchurch - Source: ONE News -
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Education Minister Anne Tolley says arrangements to enrol students from Aorangi School in other Christchurch schools are under way.
The closure of the decile-three school, with a roll of about 90, was announced on Tuesday. The decision was based on a falling roll and costly building replacement needed.
Tolley says a change-manager was being appointed to support school, families and students, and enrolment schemes at nearby schools would also need to be changed.
The change-manager "will be in contact with all the surrounding schools".
The school is scheduled to close on January 27.
Tolley says the decision was not easy, but she believes it was the right one after considering final submissions from the school and the Ministry of Education.
Aorangi was a small school that needed major investment in its buildings, the community was served by other nearby schools and it had a falling roll over the last few years, she says.
"I can't justify spending over $2 million on Aorangi's planned replacement building programme, especially in the current economic climate. An independent review by Ernst and Young of the savings associated with the closure has confirmed the costings upon which I've based my decision."
The proposal to close the school was opposed by the Canterbury Primary Principals' Association and the New Zealand Principals' Federation, which said the process was so flawed, losing Aorangi "would be in breach of the principles of natural justice".
Federation president Ernie Buutveld said the ministry's original costing data had actually changed several times and an independent review stated that the "errors cast grave doubts on the underlying assumptions and calculations".
The federation also believed the minister's use of achievement data was another factor in making her decision a serious error of judgment.
The minister notified and explained her decision to the Aorangi School board yesterday afternoon, which Labour MP Lianne Dalziel said was appalling.
"Her high-handed attitude to Aorangi has been evident ever since she decided to ask the Education Ministry to begin exploring its closure 10 months ago without telling the school that this was what she was doing," Dalziel says.
"She was more concerned about getting her story in the media than about the blow that would be dealt to families and teachers hearing the news on the radio before receiving the message officially from the school."
