Government rejects call for guards at schools

Posting security guards at New Zealand's 2500 schools would be a massive undertaking for which the costs would outweigh the benefits, Associate Education Minister David Benson-Pope said yesterday.

Principals have called for security guards to patrol schools after it was revealed arsonists caused nearly $20 million worth of damage in the past five years.

Almost 300 schools have been affected since 1999 by fires believed to have been deliberately lit, with damage running into the thousands of dollars every time.

Hamilton's Fraser High School faced a $3 million bill after arsonists torched the new gym in 2001, and 25 others have been left with damage of more than $100,000.

Information obtained from the Education Ministry under the Official Information Act shows almost 300 fires have been lit, or are believed to have been lit, at schools since 1999.

An arsonist has already struck at a school this year, causing extensive damage to three classrooms at Rotorua Girls' High School.

Naenae Intermediate School deputy principal Lindsay Brough knows first-hand the devastation caused by arson and believes security guards are needed to deter arsonists and vandals.

Five years ago the Hutt Valley school lost five classrooms and much property in a fire lit by several youths. It took years to rebuild the classrooms at a cost of more than $1.5 million.

Two 14-year-old boys were charged with lighting the fires and sentenced to supervision and community service.

Mr Brough's calls for security were echoed by other principals.

Mr Benson-Pope said yesterday that the Ministry of Education had a strategy for installing dual intruder and smoke detection alarm security systems in high-risk schools and in all buildings costing $200,000 or more.

Nearly 60 per cent of schools had full or partial coverage, he said.

Since the policy was introduced in 1991, the cost of fire losses had decreased from $23 million to less than $1 million in the 2003-04 financial year.

This meant fire losses for that year equated to $1 a student compared to $12 in Britain.

"By any measure it is proving a very successful approach to the on-going problem of school arson."

Security systems were the focus of the prevention strategy because practically all fires were the result of arson outside school hours, Mr Benson-Pope said.

Arson was deplorable, as schools were at the hearts of many communities, the minister said.

"However, the idea of security guards for New Zealand's 2500 schools would be a massive undertaking, the benefits of which could not be justified against the immense costs."

- NZPA