Double the cost and the wait
When Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announced 300 new classrooms would be funded in this year’s Budget it was welcomed news – but for one Canterbury school it felt like a kick in the guts.
Ellesmere College was promised a multimillion-dollar redevelopment in March 2019, but more than four years later and the work has yet to begin.
In fact, the Leeston school faces another four-year wait.
The 504 students are taught in cold and damp buildings that were built in 1981, with a lifespan of 25 years. The plywood is exposed, the paint is peeling and the buildings leak.
In the height of summer, children have been sent home because of poor ventilation, said presiding school board member Vanessa-Amy Greenwood.
‘‘It kind of looks like a Third World school at the moment if I’m really blunt,’’ she said.
The original $30 million cost has ballooned to near $63m. The redevelopment will now be completed in stages over the next four years rather than an 18-month construction time frame, to allow more annual funding to cover the excess cost, the school was told by the Ministry of Education in March.
It was then a ‘‘real insult’’ to hear hundreds of new classrooms announced in this year’s Budget, Greenwood said.
‘‘It’s just so disappointing that the Ministry has continued to overlook our school, make promises that they are not fulfilling in a timely manner, and yet make more promises to other schools with no mention of us again,’’ she said.
‘‘That [Budget] announcement was made four days after we had a meeting with the Ministry, and they said no, there are no funds. How did they find that money in four days?’’
Hipkins announced the Ellesmere College’s redevelopment in 2019, when he was Education Minister. He said the site had suffered ‘‘significant wear and tear’’.
The plan would see the refurbishment of the gym and music suite and the construction of 35 new classrooms.
The school roll was around 550 at the time.
Ministry of Education’s head of property Sam Fowler said the original $30m remains committed to the Ellesmere project and $4m of that has been used. The redevelopment design work has been completed.
Rising costs of construction in recent years and ‘‘land and infrastructure complexities’’ at the site have slowed the development and doubled the cost, Fowler said.
‘‘Once we have agreed the scope of the first stage of development, we will move quickly into construction.
‘‘We will be working with the school to ensure that we provide them with the support needed to maintain a high standard of teaching and learning through the redevelopment.’’
Greenwood said the staged build meant another generation of school students will go through a college that ‘‘isn’t fit for purpose’’.
‘‘It’s a testament to our staff and community that they’ve continued to keep their heads up and continue on,’’ she said.