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One in four Auckland schools will have their funding cut next year, and parents will be expected to make up the shortfall.
Ministry of Education figures show 118 of Auckland's 486 primary and secondary schools will get less money because of a rise in their decile rankings.
Schools are ranked from 1 (the poorest) to 10 (the richest), based on median income in the school's community.
Lower-ranked schools get more Government money.
Following the reshuffle, 94 of the region's schools will get more money. The remaining 274 schools will get the same amount.
One primary school in Rodney District is facing a 20 per cent cut in public funds after leaping five places in the rankings. A school in Otahuhu will get $80,000 less.
And, after a slip-up that meant the schools were not consulted, they are have only three months until the start of next school to work out how to plug the gap - or spend the windfall.
At least seven schools in Auckland - and more than 50 nationwide - are appealing against the changes.
Post-Primary Teachers' Association president Robin Duff said schools were facing "very, very serious" problems and may be forced to ask parents to pay more in donations.
"Programmes and other activities have to be cut back otherwise," he said, so it's got the potential to cause huge problems."
The deciles - a measure used when determining the amount of public funds schools get - were reviewed this year in a five-yearly recalculation.
While the reshuffle balances out nationally, it appears overall Auckland schools might get less, because more schools in the region have decile increases than decreases.
Ahuroa School, near Puhoi, faces a 20 per cent cut after going from decile 2 to a decile 7, the region's biggest rise.
"When you have a three-year strategic plan, finding out with three months notice that your funding is going to be cut by 20 per cent - it makes it very difficult," said principal Melinda Bennett.
"It puts pressure on the board and the PTA and the school to locate those funds from elsewhere so we can continue to do the stuff that we are doing."
Mrs Bennett said the loss would be $13,000 annually. The school grew from six pupils last year to 26 now. Mrs Bennett said 35 were expected on the first day next year.
The primary teachers' union, the NZEI said a cluster of South Auckland schools would lose $500,000 between them.
Primary and secondary unions are asking Education Minister Steve Maharey for a transitional fund to help schools cope with the sudden change.
Frances Nelson, principal of Fairburn School in Otahuhu, has written to parents warning them of an $80,000 funding cut.
"This will clearly have an impact on the things we do at school and how much we are able to subsidise things such as school-based activities and trips."
The new rankings are based on last year's census information on a school community's socio-economic make-up, which includes ethnicity of the school roll and median household income.
Mr Maharey has apologised to schools, but said: "It is rolling out so we'll just have to work with what we've got."
School Trustees' Association president Lorraine Kerr said schools usually got 12 months' notice of decile changes.
"If you're a school that has had a decile change up, then there's the potential for some staffing changes to happen as well," she said.
