Primary kids ordered off school bus

By Ken Lewis


Up to 19 primary school children who daily bus 15km to Wellsford Primary School will not be picked up next term because their school bus is overloaded.

The bus, which is intended for secondary school pupils travelling to Rodney College, has traditionally picked up primary school pupils along its route because spare seats have been available.

But a major increase in primary children using the service along Oruawharo Rd this year means the bus is now regularly overloaded by at least 18 pupils.

The pupils are catching the bus to Wellsford despite there being another primary school on Oruawharo Rd, within walking distance for most of the children.

But parents are refusing to send their children to the single-teacher Oruawharo
School, claiming the standard of education there is not good enough.

Oruawharo School made headlines last year when the board chairman was convicted of assaulting a pupil with a Maori weapon.

Relations between the board and its principal Warren Agnew soured, leading to Mr Agnew's being suspended twice by the board and finally dismissed.

His dismissal was overturned after the school board itself was dismissed last November by the Minister of Education, Wyatt Creech, for disharmony between board members and problems in delivering the curriculum.

A commissioner has since been appointed to replace the school board until a new one is elected. The school now has a roll of just 11 pupils, down from 21 last year.

Parents affected by the busing decision unanimously refused to send their children to Oruawharo School during a meeting over the issue at Wellsford Primary School on Tuesday night.

Sue and Roger Farr said they would teach their boy at home rather than send him to the school.

The Farrs said they stopped sending their children to Oruawharo seven years ago because their children fell behind and they wanted the advantages of a larger school.

They and other parents agreed their decision had nothing to do with Mr Agnew, who has held the position of principal and teacher at Oruawharo School for just a year.

But all felt that no teacher dealing with a whole range of ages in one class could offer the kind of focused teaching available at Wellsford Primary.

Terry and Delwyn Cann said they were especially concerned for their daughter Hayley, who is due to start school next term.

"Some children require remedial reading and others don't. How can one teacher cope with that and make sure our daughter is reaching her full potential?"

They said that if all the children affected went to Oruawharo School the roll would be just below the ministry threshold for another teacher to be appointed - meaning existing staff would be stretched to maximum.

Ray Webb, Ministry of Education Auckland manager, said the decision to stop accepting the primary children on the bus was made by the Rodney area schools themselves in line with ministry guidelines.

The schools are members of the Rodney Area Transport Group, who are given a transport budget by the ministry.