7 February 2000

Minister declines request for new integrated school

Education Minister Trevor Mallard has declined an application for integration for a new girls’ school on the Kapiti Coast.

Trevor Mallard said he made the decision after careful consideration of all the information available to him and after strong representations from Mana MP Graham Kelly and Otaki MP Judy Keall.

The reasons for declining the application were:

 a significant gender imbalance is likely to be created at the three local secondary schools if Hadfield Collegiate School for Girls is established;

 there is no clearly identifiable religious or philosophical group to which the school would be affiliated and therefore it would be difficult to determine transparent criteria to differentiate between preference and non-preference students;

 the proposed attendance dues would be the highest in the country and may act as a disincentive to enrolment, thereby potentially undermining the viability of the school;

 the roll projections for the developing future of the school are difficult to verify;

 the establishment of the school would lead to no significant savings for the Crown.

“I am confident that this is a decision which best reflects the views in the wider community on this issue,” Trevor Mallard said.

ENDS

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