"It was good news for us. We're struggling on the funding we get.
"Our decile funding will go from about $300 per child to about $900. It would have dropped to $200 and something."
The school had struggled to hold a school camp.
"Everyone else has transport, buses and things, hopefully it will mean we can accumulate money and get a school bus to pick up kids.
"If we go on a school trip, if not for parents and teachers we can't take our kids. Most of our parents' cars don't have warrants or regos."
His school suffered from competition for students by neighbouring schools and high rents, he said.
"There's very little, if any, places to rent out here at the moment. What used to be $200 is now $300 or $400 so they can't afford to stay."
Kaka Street Special School were going to contest their new decile, which increased from a four to a five, but principal Barrie Wickens said the Board of Trustees decided against it.
"The board thought it would be too complicated. They said no, we will just leave it."
Staying at the reviewed decile of decile five meant a loss of about $4500 per annum, Mr Wickens said.
Other schools that contested their new decile rating were Te Wharekura o Mauao, who moved from a two to a three, Te Kura o Matapihi, which moved from a two to a three and Whakamarama School, which moved from an eight to a 10. These schools were unsuccessful in their appeal.
Some schools faced large decile changes after the review.
Golden Sands School in Papamoa East increased from a five to a nine, Mount Maunganui Primary went from a seven to a nine and Otamarakau increased to seven from five. Rangiuru School decreased from a six to a four and Tauranga Adventist School went from an eight to a six.