New zone will exclude thousands

Plans to reduce Cashmere High School’s catchment area – which will exclude thousands of families in Opawa and St Martins – have been approved by the Ministry of Education.

The change will mean some students who live less than 4 kilometres away will be ineligible to attend the Christchurch school, while those in Diamond Harbour, 26km away, can still apply.

Nearby Waltham School, Te Kura Kaupapa Maori O Waitaha, St Mark’s School, Opawa School and Christchurch Rudolf Steiner School will be outside the new boundary.

The zone reduction is needed to manage the school’s growing student roll, but parents have fought the proposals and a petition with 140 signatures was submitted to try halt the plan.

In a letter to parents yesterday, Cashmere High School principal Joe Eccleton said it was a ‘‘difficult decision for the board to make on behalf of the school community’’.

‘‘We appreciate that many families will be affected by this decision, however, it was necessary to ensure that we had the capacity to manage our school roll,’’ he said.

‘‘It is important to note that we have one of the highest proportions of in-zone student enrolments across the country. We must take all in-zone enrolments and so reducing the size of the zone is the only mechanism we have for managing roll size.’’

He said the board’s decisionmaking was guided by several principles, including geographic proximity, the zone boundaries of contributing schools, and demographic data provided by the Ministry. Parents and caregivers provided their thoughts on the proposals during a four-month consultation process that began in November 2019 and at two public meetings.

Submissions were made to the Secretary for Education, who approved the zone reduction on April 17.

The new zone boundaries will take effect from January 1, 2021, and apply to all 2021 enrolments.

Several transitional arrangements are in place. Families of currently enrolled students whose addresses become out of zone will still be eligible to apply.