Waverley High School risks closure

WAVERLEY High School has to convince Steve Maharey it will provide a better education if it wants to continue to exist.
Yesterday the Ministry of Education announced it was beginning a process to consider the school's future, following serious concerns expressed by the Education Review Office (ERO).
The process is standard practice where there are concerns about the quality of education.
The Year 7-13 school had 98 students last year, 88 at the end of this year and a projected roll of around 63 next year, ministry Wanganui manager Anne Devonshire said.
Despite ministry input and the appointment of commissioner Dallas Murdoch to replace its board of trustees in June, there were still major concerns about the school.
A facilitator is to consult with all stakeholders, including parents, students, staff, Nga Rauru and other schools that could be affected.
There is to be at least one public meeting. Written submissions are due at the ministry's Wanganui office by January 26.
The ministry will then report to Mr Maharey, who will decide whether the school stays open.
It will open as usual on February 7 next year, at least for the first term.
Mrs Devonshire said the ministry was going into the consultation process with an open mind and there was no secret agenda to close the school.
A major ERO report identified concerns with the school. It can be found on the internet at www.ero.govt.nz and a more recent report is to appear there soon.
It says there are "serious impediments to viable and sustainable improvements". The quality of teaching and the students' educational achievements are the main worries.
The New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) has been working with the school for five years, and a roll audit found some omissions.
Small schools struggled to provide the same breadth of education as large ones, Mrs Devonshire said, but some of them managed it. Neighbouring Patea Area School was small but was doing a good job.
Waverley High's roll dropped by 50 when Brethren students left it for a school in Hawera and "a considerable number" of Waverley parents chose to send their secondary-aged children elsewhere.
The school's former principal Joan Manson retired at the end of 2005.
She said it was never perfect, but it was a happy school and the kids were well looked after and achieved good results.
The principal who replaced her only lasted for a term. Then there was an acting principal until Tony McIvor was appointed for the fourth term this year. His contract finishes at the end of the first term in 2007.
A lot of sick and stress leave was taken by teachers during the year, teachers had come and gone and Ms Manson had heard that discipline slipped.
"It's been an awful year. It needs a new, vibrant person to come in, and stay."
Student numbers were low, but she believed there were still enough to begin a recovery.
Waverley folk were very upset by the thought of the school closing.
Letters were sent home with its students yesterday, inviting parents to a meeting at the school on Tuesday night.
Whanganui MP Chester Borrows expressed his disappointment at the possible closure.
"For years Waverley High School has endured vague, incomplete and misleading Education Review Office reports," Mr Borrows told the Chronicle.
"The school has been plagued by increasingly serious problems over the past decade and this has been an ongoing cause for concern to staff, parents and students in the Waverley area."
He said he and National's Associate Education spokesman Allan Peachey visited the school recently and were appalled to discover how bad conditions had become.
"It's very disappointing to see for how many years the interests of the children in Waverley have been neglected. I want an explanation as to why the school was allowed to stumble from one crisis to another."