Parents aim to increase school roll

Door knocking every single home in Pareora to find out how many potential pupils could enrol in the future is one way the community hopes to prevent its school from facing closure for a second time.

About 50 parents and community members met on Tuesday night to talk about options for the Pareora campus of Timaru South School which faces an uncertain future with dwindling numbers and budget restraints.

The school board of trustees will meet in the first week of term two to talk about ideas from the meeting, with parents also given the option of filing submissions with the board before April 30.

It is the second time Pareora has faced such a fate with the community fighting to keep the then Pareora East School open as a satellite school in 2004 following a national schools network review which saw many rural schools close.

Pareora East and Timaru South were given an option of combining but staying on their sites under one principal and one board of trustees. That was implemented in 2005.

If Tuesday’s meeting is anything to go by, it would seem that fighting spirit has come out again with attendees speaking of the school being the heart of the community and their concerns for its future if the school was to close.

Board of trustees chairwoman Di Wills said the school’s roll had dropped from 51 in 2014 to 32 in March. This is expected to fall even further in the next two years.

‘‘We don’t have the numbers at the other end [new entrants] to counteract that,’’ Wills said.

‘‘The board is faced with ‘what happens from here?’.’’

Parents spoke out about their fear of losing their community if the school closed.

‘‘House values will go down and will the school be vandalised if it’s just closed?,’’ one father asked.

He walked around the community on Tuesday afternoon and saw four houses for sale, he said.

‘‘Who’s to say a family doesn’t buy these houses? It’s an option that could happen.’’

Another parent suggested the community find out why the school isn’t the most desirable to attend in the region.

‘‘We need feedback from everybody in the village.

‘‘What can we do better, why have they chosen another school. We need to find out what needs changing and people’s opinions and experiences.’’

Timaru South Pareora School campus leader Jo O’Sullivan said as the community no longer had a playcentre it was difficult to gauge how many new entrants the school could have in coming years.

Another parent said if the school closed and children were expected to travel to Timaru on a bus each day, she felt uncomfortable sending children aged 5 to 7 on a bus with high school students.

Timaru South School principal Mike Hogan said parents also had to consider how low they would be comfortable to allow the roll to drop.

‘‘I feel sole charge schools should only exist in remote areas like Mt Cook,’’ he said.

‘‘From an education point of view, children learn off their peers and there has to be a sufficient group.’’

Another crowd member said he did not want the school to close. ‘‘It’s heartbreaking.’’

Options such as opening a playgroup at the school were also discussed.

Meeting goers were encouraged to approach families in the community with children who didn’t attend Pareora School to encourage them to consider the school.

‘‘Talk to your neighbours, talk to other people,’’ teacher Kaye Johnston-May said.