Urgent repairs finally about to start

Northland College principal Jim Luders in the stairwell of C Block, where leaks have made the ceiling sag. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Repairs to a Northland school described as having the "worst classrooms in the country" are expected to start this month.

Northland College, in Kaikohe, hit national headlines earlier this month after ERO inspectors found that repairs they had deemed urgent three years had still not been carried out.

A property manager for the Ministry of Education visited the 290-pupil college last week and compiled a long list of fixes, focusing on health and safety issues such as trip hazards, broken doors and windows, leaks and mould. The student toilets in Block C were thought to be beyond repair so a new, stand-alone toilet block is planned.

Kim Shannon, head of the ministry's Education Infrastructure Service, said the repairs were currently being costed and work was expected to begin in the next couple of weeks. That would ensure the buildings were in a suitable state for learning until the college was rebuilt.

The cost of repairs would come out of the college's existing property funding, and would not affect the amount of money available for the school's future redevelopment, Ms Shannon said.

Site works for the college's multi-million dollar rebuild were due to begin by the end of the year. The ministry had been working with the school community on plans for a "vastly redeveloped" school with new classrooms, gym, library and technology block.

"We are working through these plans as quickly as possible. That's a big investment and we need to get it right for this generation of children and all who follow," she said.

The ministry did not comment on why routine maintenance had not been carried out, or why the rebuilding had been repeatedly delayed.