Large increase in enrollment zones for Auckland schools

By John Gerritsen of RNZ

A plan to introduce or modify 135 school enrollment zones in Auckland appears to have a major impact on where tens of thousands of children go to school.

Documents obtained under the Official Information Law show that the Ministry of Education (MOE) has completed the first phase of the three-year plan, which was aimed at helping the city cope with the huge growth in student numbers.

The documents said the plan could save tens of millions of dollars by avoiding or postponing the construction of new classrooms, which cost about $ 650,000 each.

But one director involved in the first phase of the plan told RNZ that the process was so difficult that it risked putting all of Auckland in arms, and another said it would eliminate the choice of schools in the city.

The documents said that Auckland’s rapid growth was putting pressure on classrooms across the city and that the Ministry of Education wanted more enrollment zones to be able to manage the numbers.

It would be easier for the Ministry of Education and parents to see where children in a particular area are likely to go to school and, over time, less popular schools with available capacity will fill up.

“Due to the large-scale growth in Auckland, we need a coordinated and accelerated approach to optimize Auckland’s school network,” the documents say.

“Without the implementation or amendment of the enrollment schemes in line with Auckland’s growth plan, the demand and need for additional classrooms in Auckland would increase significantly, and the overall cost in providing additional properties could run into the tens of millions of dollars.

“Enrollment plans and amendments save or defer the cost of additional classrooms, but they are equally important in supporting a balanced, accessible and effective school network.”

The documents say that it normally takes 12 months to implement an enrollment plan and that the MOE Auckland office typically completes 10 to 12 months per year.

The MOE would significantly speed up the process by hiring KPMG consultants this year to work on schemes for 60 high priority schools. The project would involve another 40 schools in 2021 and 35 the following year.

The Education Ministry said the pandemic disrupted work this year and that 45 of the 60 enrollment plans had been completed in time for next year’s enrollments.

The remaining 15 schemes would join the second phase pool of 40 schools.

An urgent job?

Pakuranga Heights School Principal Fintan Kelly said the Ministry of Education was speeding up the process and introducing enrollment schemes in schools that did not need them.

His school was in the first phase of the project this year but would not finish it until next year due to delays caused by the pandemic, he said.

The changes would affect families’ ability to choose their children’s school, he added.

“We have some kids from outside our area because they choose to make that effort to bring their children to our school, because they are not happy with their local schools; well, that choice will practically disappear if all the schools are zoned.”

Kelly was concerned about the impact on children with special needs who currently came to his school from other areas because they found it more inclusive than their local schools.

Students who will be affected

Government briefing documents show that 300 of Auckland’s 500 schools had enrollment schemes at the beginning of this year, and by the end of the project almost all will have one.

That will not affect children already in school, but it will affect new enrollments.

The Education Ministry was unable to provide the latest estimates, but had previously told RNZ that some 40,000 Auckland children attended schools for which they were not zoned and another 60,000 were in schools that were not zoned.

Manurewa Rowandale School Principal Karl Vasau said decile one school was fully booked with 650 children and the Education Ministry said it needed an enrollment plan.

Vasau said the school board wanted the plan approved in time for the beginning of next year, but was concerned about how it would work because 40 percent of the school’s students were from outside the proposed zone.

Those students could continue to attend the school, but new out-of-zone enrollments would have to go on a ballot or, if the school was full, be rejected altogether.

On the other side of the ledger, roughly 40 percent of children living within the planned area bypassed Rowandale to go to schools in other areas and it was unclear if that would change.

“We are a bit anxious because right now we don’t have a zone,” Vasau said.

“Our only concern is that once we have implemented the zone, will the children who are not in the zone come and start enrolling in Rowandale?”

He said the area had been practically forced into his school, but he could understand why the Ministry of Education was doing it.

“It’s about managing our property, managing our staff, managing our students and the growth that is all over Auckland so that we can use our stock and the ministry can put the money where it is supposed to be.

“But you know that during the first years of the area I think we will be quite worried.”

Albany Elementary School Principal Maree Bathurst said that growth at her school of 860 students was “totally unsustainable” and that she had had to change her enrollment scheme to make sure the roster didn’t exceed 1,000.

He said the school was included in the first phase of the Ministry of Education’s enrollment scheme project this year.

While it was good to work with the Ministry of Education staff, the school board found it very difficult to consult with the community on the proposed changes, and ultimately the consultation changed very little.

“You can imagine the heartfelt emotion of the families,” Bathurst said.

“It was a very difficult situation for me and the board to have to consult when in reality, the ministry knew this. [the zone change] it had to happen. “

She said the Ministry of Education could make minor adjustments to enrollment plans, but the term “consultation” made communities mistakenly think they could make major changes.

Bathurst said the change removed a suburb from the school’s enrollment plan, and parents in that area had lobbied against it.

“It made a lot of sense, but you can imagine the heartbreak for families.”

A great job, but necessary

Bathurst said the Ministry of Education’s plan to introduce or amend 135 schemes was “huge.”

“I think it will be huge and I feel sorry for my senior colleagues and their boards of directors as they manage that process. So I would like to think that it will be handled very differently than the way it has been handled in terms of our situation because we ‘will have to all Auckland on the warpath. “

Bathurst said the Ministry of Education needed to act because very few new classrooms and schools had been built in recent years.

“There is no question that this is overdue,” he said.

Auckland Secondary Principals Association Director Steve Hargreaves said he agreed that the Ministry of Education needed to address the city’s growth, but that the plan of 135 projects in three years had gone “unnoticed” by the majority of directors.

Some schools would not welcome changes to their enrollment schemes, he said.

“Families move into communities expecting their children to go to a certain school that is likely to align with their personal philosophy or beliefs or perhaps they have a long-standing personal connection to that school and then if the zones change, the Family plans are discarded window and of course it bothers people, so the school has that in mind and therefore they are not always willing to move out of the area, ”he said.

Hargreaves said the MOE would have to balance its desire to save taxpayers money with the expectations of families and schools.

Hargreaves, who is also a principal at Macleans College, told Morning Report: “The problem that I see happening in a school like ours is that if a family has bought a house in our area thinking they are going to come to our school and then If the school is rezoned, they are going to be really upset; they will have invested a couple million dollars to get into our zone, and suddenly if they are zoned for a neighboring school, there is some free capacity, there will be some complaints. “

He said that some of the boundaries were divided between two high decile schools or a group of high decile schools.

It was important for the ministry to communicate the changes to parents, or it could lead to legal action, Hargreaves said.

“There will be some schools that will have really powerful lobby groups and groups of former students who will work hard against that in the area. Therefore, the ministry must be very careful about the consultation and the communication plan, otherwise it could go out. bad for them. “