Legal war on closure looms
Branston Intermediate School is not accepting Hekia Parata's interim decision last week to close it as the last word on the school's future.
The Hornby school will appeal the decision on a number of fronts, says principal Jennifer O'Leary.
"And if it fails, we may look at a judicial review,'' she said.
People were furious and completely bewildered about the decision to close a school in an area of Christchurch that was growing, she said.
"Parents are absolutely shocked they've made this decision. They say it's ridiculous.''
Two thousand sections in Wigram were to be finished in the next three to five years, and a huge residential developed was planned for Gilberthorpes Rd, she pointed out. And an industrial park development would bring people to "live where they work.''
Branston believed the decision should be put on hold for three to five years while population trends were assessed, said Mrs O'Leary.
The school had only $110,000 of earthquake damage - "it's less than my house.
"I don't understand why there is this rush, and worse, we are rushing our kids into temporary prefabs at Hornby High School, when they would be better off here until they built proper buildings at Hornby High.''
The school is now scheduled to close next January instead of the end of 2014 as originally planned, and like several other principals around Christchurch, Mrs O'Leary is angry that on assurances from the ministry that children who started there were guaranteed to finish at Branston, she gave similar assurances to parents.
"I don't believe they can do that,'' she said.
The National government paid only lip service to education in lower socio-economic areas, she said.
"It's got nothing to do with good education outcomes for the kids. It looks like a cost cutting exercise.''
A survey of 200 past, present, and prospective future parents at the school showed 98 per cent were opposed to year 7 and 8 children going to the high school.
Branston has a roll of about 180 students this year, about the same as last year, although Mrs O'Leary knows of more than 15 children who were not enrolled at Branston because of the doubts about what was happening.
More than 300 children from other schools come to Branston's technology centre, which employs five technical teachers.
