School zone plan ‘illogical’
A South Canterbury woman is frustrated that a line drawn through a map of her farm by someone in Wellington means her children won’t be able to go to Geraldine High School while her live-in staff’s can.
Frances Coles has started a petition to enlarge the enrolment zone proposed by the Ministry of Education for the school from 2020 onwards, which as it stands would stop her two youngest daughters from joining their older sister at the school.
Upon discovering the ministry’s zone cut through her Orari property, excluding her children but not those of her workers – Coles found it ‘‘ridiculously illogical’’.
‘‘It’s pretty gut-wrenching to have a line drawn in the sand that means my family will be split up.
‘‘All of the people that are being left out are rural families. They have shut the door on part of the community. They have no idea.’’
Rangitata MP Andrew Falloon and Waitaki MP Jacqui Dean will jointly present the petition, which neared 700 signatures with a week to go, to Parliament.
Coles was unsurprised by the support for the petition.
‘‘We’ve got one chance to stand up and when something happens that affects a small rural community, we band together,’’ she said.
‘‘Winchester Primary is really badly affected and people over at Pleasant Point are pretty gutted by the proposal as well.’’
The zone was proposed by the ministry to combat a risk of overcrowding at the school – which as of July last year, had 565 on its roll with a capacity of 605.
While Coles understood the zoning project would go ahead, she wanted to see it include rural families with a rich history with the school.
‘‘I don’t believe there’s a problem with overcrowding. They can definitely have a zone that would include as many people as are there now.’’
She said the school appeared to have embraced its rural students by championing outdoor education – such as their programmes for year 12 and 13 students which expose them to the ethics of environmental care, risk management, and selforganisation.
‘‘A lot of people are choosing to send their children there because of this, and that will just be taken away from all rural families.’’
For the school, leaving out rural families could mean fewer teachers and fewer core subjects while for the Geraldine community, it too could suffer ‘‘massive detrimental effects’’, she said.
Businesses could lose customers as rural families no longer had a reason to come into town so often, and volunteer numbers at sports clubs could drop, she said.
Falloon said he had been contacted by ‘‘a large number of very concerned parents’’ from around South Canterbury including Winchester, Hinds, Pleasant Point, and Rangitata Island.
‘‘More than
100 people came along to three public meetings I held, and I’ve sent their feedback directly to the ministry,’’ Falloon said.
‘‘One of the biggest concerns parents have is the ban on siblings of kids already at Geraldine [High School] from attending. It’s difficult to see the sense in requiring one child to go to one high school and their sibling to another.’’
Dean said her concern with the ministry’s proposal was ‘‘fewer students equal fewer teachers’’ so ‘‘it may not be feasible for the school to offer the range of subjects currently enjoyed by senior school pupils’’.
‘‘Geraldine High School’s primary industries academy and outdoor education programmes are highly regarded and popular. If the viability of these courses were to be threatened by having a reduced roll, it would be a travesty.’’
Go Geraldine promotions coordinator Janene Adams said the Geraldine Combined Sports Association and the Geraldine Community Board were among those who had made submissions to the school’s board of trustees.
Submissions close next Friday.
‘‘It’s pretty gut-wrenching to have a line drawn in the sand that means my family will be split up.’’ Frances Coles