What happens when a small rural school disappears
The fate of a small Wairarapa school is on a knife edge, reports Piers Fuller.
It may only be a small corner of the North Island affected by the impending closure of Tuturumuri School, but its situation reflects an all-toofamiliar tale of rural areas being hollowed out by the loss of their precious schools.
Eight per cent of rural schools have closed over the past decade. With that in mind, Stuff looked at three similar Wairarapa communities and how they have been affected.
One, at Tiraumea, which lost its school leading to the disintegration of its sense of community, another at Wainuioru that managed to hold on to theirs and now thrives, and Tuturumuri, which is awaiting the education minister’s final decision on whether its school disappears forever.
Tuturumuri: Waiting for the axe to fall
Tuturumuri School is nestled in a valley, along a hilly, winding country road 30km from Martinborough. Its roll peaked at 39 in 1982, but because of a combination of factors it had no students at the beginning of this year. The roll has since rebounded to eight, but Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced a proposal in June to close the school. Its community has been engaged in a fierce battle to change his mind before the axe falls.
Paul Cutfield doesn’t have any children at the school but does have ‘‘skin in the game". He’s part of the local establishment and is on the Tuturumuri School steering committee, which is lobbying the minister to change his mind.
As a long-term resident, Cutfield says the Government should be taking a long view of the role these schools play.
Schools can reach a tipping point as a result of many factors, and a community should not lose theirs because of poor management or a demographic ebb, he says.
If parents bypass the school to take their children elsewhere, the ministry should investigate why and not just accept it as a justification for closure.
‘‘If there is a reason embedded in there because there’s a principal or a teacher the kids don’t like, or whatever, you find that out in an honest, open discussion,’’ Cutfield says.
‘‘But the ministry shut that discussion down because its got all that phobia. The unions are a part of that because they’ve made it impossible to criticise a teacher constructively."
Steering group chairman Hamish Sims went further, suggesting the Government was neglecting these communities on purpose. ‘‘[They] seem hell-bent on trying to close rural New Zealand down. Why do they want to do that? Surely with an expected population increase ... these areas are very important going forward.’’
Ministry of Education spokeswoman Susan Howan said it provided extra resourcing to smaller and isolated schools if they needed it.
Hipkins has asked the ministry to improve the funding and staffing formulae for small schools as opportunities arose, and to improve the isolation index once the 2018 Census results are available. Any changes will take effect at the start of the 2020 school year at the earliest.
Tiraumea: A district’s identity disintegrates
Just a few short years ago Tiraumea School, north of Masterton, was a lively centre of activity with its school house, playground and accompanying buildings.
Now the site has been cleared of every vestige of the former school complex.
A lonely tree the children once climbed remains in a paddock just down the road from an equally lonely community hall, which might get used once or twice a year.
The school that closed six years ago shared many similarities with Tuturumuri. It was located in isolated hill country but was a highly valued hub for a small district.
Former student, parent and board of trustees chairman Brett Harvey says the district centre virtually disappeared with the closure in 2012.
He believed the closure was ‘‘sad, but possibly inevitable’’ because of depopulation and a demographic shift brought about by changes in land use.
‘‘When you’re getting under 10 kids it doesn’t really do the kids any good in my opinion. They need to socialise and have peers,’’ he says.
Many hill country areas, traditionally farmed for sheep and beef were converted to forest blocks and the houses that remained were often left unoccupied or taken up by lifestylers.
The school had more than 30 children in its heyday, but its roll has always fluctuated.
‘‘It’s gone up and down over the years,’’ Harvey says.
The nearest communities with schools are now Alfredton and Pongaroa, which are both about 20km from Tiraumea, which itself is about 40km east of Eketahuna.
Duncan Smith was the board of trustees chairman when the school closed. He says there were enough children in the area to keep the school viable at the time, but when some families chose not to send their children to the school the decision to close was forced upon them.
The principal’s decision to leave in 2011 was also a key driver in the board’s decision to make a submission to the Education Ministry to close, he said.
Wainuioru: Thriving after struggles
A once vibrant small school 20km east of Masterton found itself in dire straits at the turn of the 2000s with a dwindling roll and a question mark hanging over its future.
But Wainuioru School turned itself around thanks to a change of leadership and a committed board. It now has 93 students.
These children would have a different identity without the school. They wouldn’t be the Wainuioru kids that are known for their cross-country running and their bare feet in the playground. They would just be country kids in a big town school who bus in from great distances.
Edward Beetham, of nearby Brancepeth station, was one of the school’s founding members. He says it is vital to the identity and community health of the area.
‘‘It’s part of the focal point of the district along with the hall. It means that the district people get to know each other as they come to school events,’’ he says.
Cutfield argues that if schools like Wainuioru can weather a rough patch, so can Tuturumuri.
‘‘They nearly closed, but look at what it’s like 20 years later and what the school means to the community. It’s got more than three classes and it’s thriving."
Where to now?
Hipkins would not commit on a timeline for his final decision on Tuturumuri as he has not received the final report from the ministry.
The final report is based on the school’s current situation, population projections, and existing schooling options for students in the area, he says.
‘‘I will carefully consider all the submissions including those from the community before making my final decision.’’