One school vows it will stay open

By ALLAN PERROTT and CLAIRE TREVETT

As schools reel over the Government's surprise backtrack on closures, one braced for the chop says it will defy any official edict to shut its doors.

Helena Bay School, which has 17 pupils, is one of eight in central Northland which could disappear through closure or merger despite Education Minister Trevor Mallard's 5-year moratorium on reviews.

"If [the review] still goes against us, all options become open because we're not closing any doors," said school board member and review spokesman Clive Stone.

He hoped the pressure heaped on the Government might offer a last-minute lifeline.

Mr Stone said Northland schools had received calls from others in a similar situation, looking to work together to oppose further closures.


Pita Tipene, a spokesman for Te Reo o Ngati Hine, which has an interest in three threatened Northland schools, was disappointed at the arbitrary end to the reviews.


But he supported reviews as a means of ensuring the education system was working effectively and said the recent outcry was not a good enough reason to end the process.

"It just makes a mockery of what was originally outlined to the people within the network review. If they [the Government] believed in that policy as much as they say they do, they would have gone through with it regardless."


Pepi Walker, commissioner for the remote seven-pupil Te Kura O Matawaia, said her devastated school community was upset by the apparent unfairness of the moratorium.

"I'm happy for the schools that have got another five years, but I wish he had been prepared to put the moratorium on [Ngati Hine's] to give us time to address the reasons behind the reviews."

The schools have the support of the primary school teachers' union, the NZ Educational Institute, which yesterday told Labour MPs to stop all impending school closures.