Moroney challenges new school choices
Two new schools will soon serve Hamilton's rapidly growing northern suburbs.
Education Minister Hekia Parata said a $7-$10 million primary school was expected to open in 2015 and a new school for Year 7-13 students the following year.
The high school will be the first built in the city for 30 years.
It is believed the secondary school could be built near Te Totara Primary. It is likely the primary school could occupy a ministry plot in Endeavour Ave, Flagstaff.
Both sites require approval by residents.
Community feedback will also help to decide how the secondary school will be established - a separate or joined intermediate, the school name, zone boundaries, whether it will have a uniform and its approach to the national curriculum.
Hamilton East MP David Bennett is delighted The Government is proposing to build schools in the northeast of Hamilton to help serve the growing population.
He said the decision recognised the area was one of the fastest growing regions in the country.
Labour List MP Sue Moroney says the minister has shown little understanding of Hamilton's priorities.
"If she had bothered to talk to the community, or listen to the Education and Science Select Committee, she would know secondary schooling is the priority in northeast Hamilton," Sue Moroney says.
"That's much too late [2016] for the community. Has she not learned anything from her ill-informed announcements in Christchurch?
"The proposed schools might not have registered, qualified teachers and could be privately-owned, with the minister refusing to rule out Charter Schools, or Private Public Partnerships (PPPs).
"The multi-party select committee recommended The Government go ahead with a new secondary school in 2009, following a petition from the local community.
"I have seen the data supporting the secondary school proposal but would like to see assurances that a further primary school won't be to the detriment of our existing school network.
"For many families, the secondary school announcement has come four years too late," she says.
