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Members of the Marfell community wanted to show Green Party co-leader James Shaw how “ready they are” to start working at Marfell’s school.
A Taranaki acting director says the direct message she sent to the government about funding the schools seemed to have fallen on deaf ears, but had found willing listeners among members of the opposition.
On Monday, Marfell Community School’s Kealy Warren had a closed-door meeting with National Party leader Judith Collins, who was visiting New Plymouth with some party MPs, including local representative Jonathan Young.
The meeting at the school followed an open letter Warren sent to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern last week following news of the award of $ 11.7 million to help expand the privately run Green School in Oakura.
ANDY JACKSON / THINGS
Judith Collins, leader of the National Party, announces her party’s educational infrastructure policy.
The money was part of the government’s ready-to-use financing plan to help the economy recover from the coronavirus.
Warren said she spoke with Collins about her school’s “proprietary horror stories” and her ongoing needs.
READ MORE:
* James Shaw invited to see leaky and moldy state schools following a million dollar private school grant
* The director of Taranaki sends the government a bill of 26.9 million dollars to ask for equal treatment
* Government funding of $ 11.7 million for private schools is ‘incomprehensible’ and ‘uneven’, say Taranaki principals
ANDY JACKSON / Stuff
Marfell Community School principal Kealy Warren met with National Party leader Judith Collins and other MPs in a closed-door meeting Monday. (File photo)
He said he thought his concerns had been heard, but could not say the same for the government.
Warren said he had received no response regarding his invitation for Green Party co-leader James Shaw, who announced the funding last Wednesday, to visit his school.
At the end of the meeting, Warren asked MP Nicola Willis to pass a photo to community members from Marfell’s Shaw School posing with tools as a sign that they, too, were “shovel-ready.”
Warren said he still expected the money awarded to the Green School to be withdrawn, but he also supported a better way to fund school property problems.
“It is not working, it is not fair and the schools are falling off us.”
She said addressing the hurdles that directors had to overcome to push their case for updates should also be reconsidered.
“It really isn’t necessary. Trust the directors. We know what is happening. “
ANDY JACKSON / Stuff
NPBHS Principal Brooklyn Greer-Atkins with National Party Leader Judith Collins during a tour of the school Monday.
Collins also visited New Plymouth Boys’ High School to announce National’s $ 4.8 billion policy on investment in educational infrastructure, if elected Oct. 17.
In addition to Young, she was joined by education spokesperson Willis and Chris Bishop, the party’s transportation and infrastructure spokesperson.
The Green School controversy was also not far from the minds of some New Plymouth Boys high school students.
During question time when Collins visited an economics class, a student asked how the decision was made.
Collins said it was something National was still trying to get to the bottom of and that he would be asking more about it in the House this week.
“The entire government must answer for it.”
Collins said it wasn’t good enough for principals like Warren to spend so much time applying for funding grants for upgrade work, so the Green School announcement of $ 11.7 million had been “just a kick in the gut for them.”
When asked if National would back out of the deal to give the money to the Green School, Collins said it would be difficult if the contracts had already been signed.
Meanwhile, the president of the Taranaki Secondary School Principals Association (TSSPA) has written to Education Minister Chris Hipkins to criticize the decision to award the Green School $ 11.7 million and urge it to withdraw.
In the letter, sent Monday, Martin Chamberlain said the association’s members, who are collectively responsible for all high school students in the province, were “united in their opposition.”
“We cannot accept that taxpayer funds go to individuals who will be private owners of the expanded asset and benefit from the business.
“There is a great need for these funds in our state and state integrated schools.”
Chamberlain asked Hipkins if he was aware of the ramifications when he signed on to the project, if he made a conscious decision to fund a private school, and “if he was not fully aware of these issues, what does he propose to do through remedy?
He added: “The remedy for our group would be the total withdrawal of any fund or loan offer.”
James Shaw, associate finance minister and co-leader of the Green Party, told party members on Friday that it would be difficult to get out of the funding deal, although he was looking for some form of solution.
