Zoning Tears Families Apart: Brothers Can't Go To The Same School

ACT Education Spokesman MP Donna Awatere Huata today slammed zoning laws which have stopped two brothers from going to the same school.

"Zoning separates the rich from the poor, pakeha from Maori - and now brother from brother.

"Six-year-old Craig Hampton goes to Clayton Park School in Manurewa. Now Craig's school has created a 'home zone' for new-entrants, which ends one street away from Craig's house. The new zoning system will be enforced from July 16.

"The effect is that Craig's four-year-old brother Arran can't go to the same school.

"Craig's mother is at her wit's end. She is forced to make the decision between pulling Craig from the school where he has settled and made friends, or moving so Arran can be with his brother.

"This is a ghastly example, but it is not an isolated one. I know of at least nine more examples.

"At Glendowie Primary school, there are seven new-entrant kids whose little brothers and sisters can't go to the same school because of the home zone.

"Some parents at Glendowie are looking at renting properties short-term so their kids can stay together. They shouldn't have to disrupt their entire lives in order to get their kids a decent education.

"There is no possible way to justify tearing families apart," Donna Awatere Huata said.

Ends

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