Shadbolt drums up council support to fight school closures

By HELEN TUNNAH

Education Minister Trevor Mallard has told schools they risk "self-inflicted" stress if they try to use court action to stop him shutting another 71 schools.

But Invercargill Mayor Tim Shadbolt, who yesterday launched a fighting fund for a legal challenge, said people could not be more stressed than they were already.

Mr Shadbolt is trying to unite councils from Northland to Southland to seek a judicial review of Mr Mallard's decision to go ahead with reviewing the futures of those schools excluded from the Government's last-ditch freeze on any more closures or mergers.

Mr Mallard announced on Monday the Government's unpopular programme of reviewing schools would be stopped for the next five years.

But schools already tagged for closures or mergers would not be included in the moratorium.

Mr Mallard said although he still believed the reviews - which could have affected 1000 schools over a decade - were in the best interests of students and communities, the moratorium was being imposed because of a public and teacher backlash.

That has prompted schools earmarked for closure to ask Mr Mallard for a stay of execution.

Mr Mallard told Parliament yesterday he did not think it would be sensible to apply the moratorium retrospectively.

"I have said I will look very closely and carefully at submissions before I make my final decisions. I cannot protect people from self-inflicted stress from their taking legal action."

Mr Shadbolt yesterday spoke with constitutional lawyer Mai Chen about a High Court review of the policy, and said he would be asking 14 councils around New Zealand whether they want to join Invercargill City Council in the legal challenge.

"I don't think you could inflict much more stress than the people are feeling now. The community won't feel stressed [going to court] at all."

Timaru's council has called for a meeting with Mr Mallard, and Invercargill will host a public meeting on Monday. Mr Shadbolt said Prime Minister Helen Clark, not Mr Mallard, would be invited.

"She's in the steering seat on this one. I don't think Mr Mallard truly wanted to back down."

National, Act and the Green Party have appealed to Labour to extend the moratorium to those schools still under threat.