Dannevirke school hostel set to close

Reon Suddaby
Dannevirke High School's MacDonald House hostel will close at the end of the school year, with the probable loss of 14 jobs.
The decision to close the hostel was made last night.
The future of the hostel was originally expected to be decided last week, however the school board delayed making a final call, instead choosing to co-opt four members of the Dannevirke community to help with their decision.
The closure follows the release of a report which recommended the hostel be shut because of falling numbers of New Zealand-based hostel students and the cost required to upgrade the facility. The hostel, which has provided boarding facilities since around 1950, is currently home to 57 students, 42 of which are from overseas.
The hostel will lose $160,000 this year and was forecast to lose $190,000 next year.
Dannevirke High School Board of Trustees chairman Tony Rhodes said while the school had received a large amount of community support, including offers of financial assistance, there was no option allowing the hostel to operate profitably in the long-term.
Revised budgets prepared over the past week found that the savings could not cover the operating deficit.
Mr Rhodes said keeping the hostel open would require a diversion of funds from the educational needs of the school.
The school board of trustees will provide interim accommodation to the end of term one 2005, for current New Zealand-resident and international students who wished to enrol under the school's homestay programme.
The decision to close the hostel follows the appointment earlier this year of Andy Matthews as a limited statutory manager after the school reached a position at the end of 2003 where its current liabilities exceeded its current assets by $500,000.
The school had been overspending, leading to operating losses.