Parent anger at unit's closure

Dredis Hughes, 7, (left) and Moe Walmsley, 4, in front of other pupils and whanau of the soon-to-close rumaki unit at Rotokawa School. PHOTO/BEN FRASER

Parents are angry a Rotorua school's Maori immersion unit is to close, with just over four weeks' notice.

But Rotokawa School says the "extremely difficult decision" was made in the best interests of the school as the unit was no longer sustainable.

The primary school has a full immersion unit - a rumaki - that caters for pupils from Year 1 to Year 6. It currently has 10 pupils, from six families.

During the final week of the July school holidays, parents were told it would be closing next Friday - four weeks into the term. They said they were given two options - move their children into the school's mainstream classes, or to an immersion unit at another school.

Parents Mariana Te Kanawa and Tiria Shaw said they were angry at a lack of consultation and the short notice.

"I believe other options could have been explored before it got to the decision," Ms Shaw said. "Putting aside the anger, I feel for the children ... the kids are not sure what's happening. It will hit them when there is no class to go to."

Another parent, Ani Ruri, said it was sad the board "gave up so easy" on the rumaki.

"They've taken the mana away from the school. I am hoping that it doesn't close, we want the support of the community to stay open."
The school's board of trustees issued a statement in response to the parents' concerns.

"An extremely difficult decision was made by the Rotokawa BOT to discontinue operating a full immersion rumaki unit with its 10 students. We acknowledge the difficulty this causes the six families represented in our rumaki unit, which we were unable maintain," it said.

"For our small school, this imbalance was affecting the ability to provide quality education for all students of the school."

The board said it spent several months looking at options to maintain a sustainable roll.

"The board of trustees sought a wide range of information throughout the consultation process and we are disappointed as well as saddened by this outcome. We acknowledge the sense of loss."

It was a priority the transition happened "within a reasonable period of time" to achieve successful outcomes for all pupils at the school, it said.

The board said te reo and tikanga was well established at the school and it would continue to build relationships with local kaumatua and iwi.

Rotokawa Kohanga Reo supervisor Angie Ham was involved in setting up the rumaki more than 20 years ago. "I would like to see it remain open, but if that's impossible I would like to see some assurance that the concept isn't just brushed aside."