Upston calls for action as Tauhara College waits for more classrooms

Builders at work constructing the second block of classrooms at Tauhara College. The block was originally expected to be ready at the start of term two. Photo / Laurilee McMichael

Taupō MP Louise Upston says she's still waiting for answers on why Tauhara College hasn't received more on-site classrooms to allow it to return to something approaching normality during term two.

Four blocks of the college's ageing prefab classrooms were badly damaged in a downpour on November 25 last year, with 37 classrooms rendered unusable and the school had to shut early for the year.

The Ministry of Education moved quickly to approve a temporary classroom village of 13 rooms and the college delayed the start of term one to allow the classrooms to be finished.

Senior students have spent part of their time working in the school's assembly hall, converted into a learning hub, and last term were also learning one day a week at home.

Originally Tauhara College expected to have the school gym repaired and reopened by the start of term two, as well as another block of eight double classrooms (16 teaching spaces) in place and ready to be used for technology and science subjects by the start of term two.

But it was dealt a blow last month when the ministry announced at short notice that the second block of classrooms would not be delivered and ready for use by term two.

With a lot of juggling and by moving some of its technology and physical education classes off site, the school has managed to come up with a timetable that allows all its 703 students to be at school five days a week.

Puddles in Tauhara College's A block of prefabs after a downpour on Wednesday, November 25. Photo / Laurilee McMichael

But Ms Upston, the National Party MP for Taupō, says while the ministry pulled out all the stops to have the first block of classrooms ready by the start of term one, as well as converting the school hall into a learning hub, she was very concerned when she heard that the second block of classrooms was not going to be ready in the promised time frame and the ministry expected it would not be opening until term three.

"To be fair, what was delivered by term one, they [the school] were fairly happy with," Ms Upston says. "From there though, things have really unravelled.

"I've talked to students, teachers, parents, and I think on the back of what they put up with last year [with Covid-19 disruptions] it was just all becoming too much."

Ms Upston said promising the school it would have more classrooms by term two and then changing the timeline was "grossly unfair".

A block of 18 temporary classrooms and administration spaces was finished under urgency in February after water damage forced the college to close in November 2020. Photo / Laurilee McMichael

"To not deliver is bad enough, but then to delay telling the school in a timely manner of their failure to deliver is appalling service by the ministry.

"It feels like because they got the first set of buildings up they've taken the foot off the accelerator."

Ms Upston said while nobody wants to see a rushed repair job which resulted in taxpayers' money being wasted, this was an emergency situation and she had written to Education Minister Chris Hipkins raising her concerns about the delay supplying more classrooms. She has not yet received a response.

Taupō MP Louise Upston. Photo / Rachel Canning

School principal Ben Hancock said it was frustrating there had been a four week delay to the new classrooms through the ministry's internal review process, which the school had not been allowed to be part of. However, the staff had done "a bit of a juggling act" to find a solution that worked for all the students.

With the "wonderful support" of Wairakei Resort, food technology students had been bussed there for practical lessons since the middle of term one, and after a huge amount of work getting it up and running, the school's new off-site hard materials technology space in Tauhara Rd would be ready for use later this week.

Students are also being transported to the Taupō Events Centre for physical education lessons.

"We've got everybody here which is the first step. There's kids in rooms, the teachers are more comfortable with the new normal. We even managed to have a full school assembly this morning," Mr Hancock said.

"We have a timeline that we are working towards and we're working with the ministry to get kids into these rooms. We're appreciative of the buildings we have got and the Livingstone Building team have been amazing."

The new classroom block will include science facilities and a hospitality and home economics suite and work on it was going at pace, Mr Hancock said. However, students would still have to be off site for hard materials technology and PE in term three and the school gym is not expected to be repaired until term four.

Ministry of Education head of education infrastructure service Kim Shannon said in a statement that all the eight double-modular buildings (16 classrooms) were now on site at Tauhara College and work on them was progressing well with the classrooms expected to be available for use from mid-July.

Ms Shannon said when the ministry was planning to have the classrooms brought on site it looked at whether it could find a permanent location for them to avoid them having to be moved again in future as the school is developed.

"This process added to our initial timeframe for delivery. In addition, the favourable conditions that enabled the rapid delivery of Stage 1 – long days, dry weather, availability of labour, the buildings being pre-built and already available, and the school being closed for holidays - are not present for this stage of work.

"We are continuing to refine the scope of the gymnasium work which will determine exact timeframes for completion. We currently expect the work to the gymnasium to be completed during term four," the statement said.

"We continue to take any opportunity to accelerate delivery timeframes wherever possible."