Charges follow dispute at Northland school

Four Northland parents charged with failing to send their children to a registered school have been ordered to reappear in court next month.

The parents were charged after they ignored a Government order to remove their children from Orauta School, near Kawakawa.

Orauta School was ordered to close at the beginning of the year after the Ministry of Education carried out a national school review.

At Kaikohe District Court yesterday, all four parents were ordered to reappear on September 11. Two of the parents did not turn up yesterday and the other two were late.

The latter two, Ken and Teena Brown, will also reappear on September 11 for another charge of running an unregistered school.

In a separate court case, Judge Thomas Everitt has reserved his decision on whether the Crown can repossess the land the school is situated on.

The attorney-general is trying to get the school vacated via the Crown Law Office in Whangarei.

- NORTHERN ADVOCATE (WHANGAREI)