Schools to be informed of decile review

Schools to be informed of decile review

Schools that have applied for a review of their decile recalculation will be advised of the outcome over the next ten days.

Deputy Secretary for Student Achievement, Dr Graham Stoop, says 160 schools asked for a review following last year’s recalculation.

“That recalculation was based on information from the 2013 Census and saw about a third of schools go up in decile, a third go down, and the rest were unchanged. That’s very similar to what happened when it was done in 2007.

“There are 2406 schools and we encouraged any of them who felt their decile wasn’t right to ask for a review. We heard from about seven percent of them and did further work with those schools. As a result 85 are moving to a lower decile rating and the other 75 have had their rating confirmed.

“The review outcome isn’t unexpected. The majority asking for a review were primary schools, many with smaller rolls, and we know they are more susceptible to changes in their local communities. We were able to establish that some circumstances in their communities had changed since 2013, so weren’t fully reflected.

“It’s also important for schools to understand that we recognise that circumstances can continue to change. There’s another review opportunity later this year if any school is in that situation as well as further annual reviews.”

Dr Stoop says the 85 schools that will receive additional money because of the lowering of their decile rating have not been disadvantaged because their increased funding will be backdated.

“For schools whose deciles went up as part of last year’s decile review the Government has made around $8 million in transitional funding available over 18 months to help them adjust to their new funding levels.”

Dr Stoop says Ministry staff will be talking with all of the 160 schools who requested a review before the end of next week to explain the outcomes. After that is completed, the information will be released.

ENDS

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