Uncertainty haunts Glen Innes school

By DITA DE BONI

Rose Neal will leave her job as principal of Glen Innes Intermediate this year uncertain whether the school will survive.

Ms Neal, who is moving to Northcote Intermediate after more than three years at Glen Innes, says she has almost got to the point where she "can't battle any more" against education authorities seemingly determined to close the school.

"This is a really good school that serves the Glen Innes children well and deserves a chance to thrive," says the principal who helped to turn around the Education Review Office's scathing reports on the low-rated decile 1a intermediate.

"Of course there are areas we can improve on, like any other school, but we've worked really hard in the last three years to turn things around and everyone is so disappointed."

The school has a 99 per cent Maori and Pacific Island roll, and she says "it's hard not to think these children are being discriminated against because they are in a decile 1a area" - the lowest socio-economic category.

Year 7 students Tyson Kaukau and Leanne Nakono say they have had a good education and feel sad about the school's probable closure.

Education Minister Trevor Mallard has not officially decided the fate of Glen Innes Intermediate, but the school has been told to halt all building developments.

Its roll has fallen from a peak of 300 to 100 this year, but uncertainty about its fate has meant parents are unwilling to enrol their children for next year.

"It's a vicious cycle," Ms Neal told the Herald. "We just don't know what is going to happen. Teachers might be out of jobs halfway through the year, and parents won't want to send their children here for just one or two terms.

"Of course, if our rolls continue to fall, the ministry has a stronger argument for closing us down.

"Once consultation on the school's position has stopped at the end of February, the minister can then decide to close the school whenever he wants."

But Ms Neal says she has had 56 enrolments for next year - there were just four last year at the same time - and is adamant that the area will experience growth in the next few years that will make the school necessary.

The Auckland City Council has earmarked Glen Innes for growth, and Housing New Zealand is redeveloping the nearby Talbot Park area for new housing.

Mr Mallard appears to agree, saying that even if the school closed the property would be retained "because of population growth in Auckland".

Mr Mallard is in Fiji, but his spokeswoman said no decision had been made to close the school.

She gave the Herald comments made by the minister previously in which he says: "All I have done is initiate consultation over the possible closure, and no decisions have been taken.

"The ministry has been in close contact with the school, and has met the board of trustees.

"The consultation will extend to the end of February, and will provide ample opportunity for all people interested in the school's future to make representations to me, through the Ministry of Education's Auckland office," Mr Mallard said.

But the principal of nearby Tamaki College, David Hodge, says the ministry's inability to give the community a clear "yes" or "no" is a deliberate tactic.

"Even now, no one in the ministry is going to come out and say, 'We are closing the school.' They will just signal the possibility and let events take care of themselves - staff bail out, students bail out ... and then it's a fait accompli. No one actually had to make any decisive decision at all."

Mr Hodge said there was nothing inherent in the Glen Innes area that would condemn the school to failure.

"What is needed, like any organisation that falls on hard times, is someone - like the ministry - to say, 'We believe in you. We are going to work beside you and not stand at a very long arm's distance. Here is some upfront investment. Let's make this a partnership'."

Meanwhile, Ms Neal says she is looking forward to her new job at Northcote Intermediate next year, taking over from the previous head, who was sacked when pornography was found on his office computer.

But she adds: "I feel sad about leaving Glen Innes - the kids here are just great."