Covid 19 coronavirus Delta variant: Hawke's Bay boarders 'safely home'

Napier Girls' High School principal Dawn Ackroyd when she stepped into the job in 2017. The school was emptied on Tuesday as the latest Covid-19 lockdown took effect. Photo / NZME

Hawke's Bay's two biggest schools took just a few hours to empty their boarding dormitories of well over 300 pupils before the Covid-19 level 4 lockdown took effect on Tuesday night.

Both Napier Boys' High School and Napier Girls' High School have rolls of more than 1000 students, including about 170 boarders in each establishment, from as far afield as north of Gisborne, south of Dannevirke and west of Taupō.

The lockdown, effectively closing all schools in Hawke's Bay until at least the end of the weekend, was announced about 6pm and took effect at 11.59pm.

New Napier Boys' High principal Jarred Williams, who took on the role on July 27 after moving to Hawke's Bay from Hamilton, said on Tuesday morning all were "safely home", apart from a small number who stayed overnight before travelling to Gisborne.

He said that with some families represented at both boarding establishments, and pupils of both schools sharing some travel arrangements, the operation had taken place effectively because of the co-ordination by parents and collaboration of the schools.

Many parents had "pre-empted" the lockdown announcement, making plans during the day after becoming aware a community case of Covid-19 had been discovered in Auckland.

"We had parents turn up early, but we didn't release any students until after the announcement was made," he said.

He said at his school hostel senior master Ashton Johnston had done a "great job" in ensuring the movement of the students, who, like day pupils, had to take with them devices and other items that might be needed to continue their studies from home for an indefinite period.

NGHS principal Dawn Ackroyd said all but three of her school's 168 boarders were able to go home on Tuesday night.

"Great teamwork by our hostel staff," she said. "Whānau were very co-operative and understanding."

Hawke's Bay Today was unable to contact all school boarding establishments, but decisions were dependent on the manageability of the circumstances, including St Joseph's Māori Girls' College in Greenmeadows, Napier, where about 100 boarders were remaining at the school.

All schools are closed from Wednesday to Friday, with reopening on Monday dependent on Government announcements expected on Friday.