All happening in Kaikohe

OUT OF BOUNDS: Northland College principal Jim Luders in the school's music room, now in such bad condition that it is no longer used.

Northland College principal Jim Luders, who last week described his classrooms as possibly the worst in the country, can now see a very bright light at the end of the tunnel.

Mr Luders has been to Wellington, where he met the Ministry of Education's acting head of the education infrastructure service, Jerome Sheppard, who earlier flew north to visit the school, and Associate Education minister Nikki Kaye to discuss the rebuild delays.

"It wasn't about her saving face or the government or anything else," he said.

"She was keen to ensure the ducks were in order, and to ensure the process would be followed correctly from now on."

He was now expecting visit from the ministry's property manager, and the buildings would undergo an urgent upgrade, even though they were expected to only be there for a short period of time.

Funding that the school had thought was frozen to go towards the rebuild would be available for the upgrade.

Plans for a rebuild and a date for delivery are expected to be announced next month.

"I am extremely confident that everything has been addressed. We know now it's a priority," Mr Luders said.

"I think the wheels are going to be rolling quite quickly. They're going to get things cracking as fast as they possibly can."

And he was grateful to have certainty.

"That's the thing we've wanted the whole way along. It gives us a lot more heart to know exactly where we stand. Moving guidelines are hard to get your head around," he added.

He didn't hold a grudge for the delays, saying the ministry was looking after a lot of money, and the school had got lost somewhere in the process.

The end product was that "the kids" would be the winners.