College’s roll halves to 25 in single year

‘‘We need the hostel open. The sooner the better.’’

Hato Petera College has opened its doors for the school year with about half the number of students there were last year.

The college was the only Maori boarding school north of the Harbour Bridge before its boarding facilities were shut down in November last year.

Rudy Taylor, the chairman of the Hato Petera Whanau Trust, which is responsible for the marae, former hostel and chapel, says about 25 to 30 students started at the school on January 31. He says, while that number’s low, he thinks it can be built up.

Taylor says three-quarters of the students are from Auckland and he has hopes the hostel can be re-opened for the other students.

‘‘The longer they stay empty, the worse the buildings will become,’’ Taylor says.

The Ministry of Education’s head of sector enablement and support, Katrina Casey, says without hostel facilities, which the Catholic Diocese closed, the college now has to operate as a day school for the year 9 to 13 students enrolled there.

Casey says the Ministry of Education understands the board is working with families to arrange private accommodation for those who need it.

She says it’s also important for families to know they can transfer Te Puawaitanga scholarships - for full boarding and attendance fees to one of New Zealand’s five other Maori boarding schools.

Operational funding is based on a school’s roll and type so there is limited funding available for the college, Casey says. As a result, the college is facing operational challenges and the Ministry of Education is working to ‘‘determine the level of additional assistance it now needs to manage and respond to its challenges’’.

Taylor says the college has support and needs to stay open.

‘‘When we were a hostel we were getting more [money] so it’s very difficult. We have to rise above that,’’ Taylor says. ‘‘The kura will still stay open. Our principal is still there the teachers are there and we need the hostel open. The sooner the better.’’

But Taylor says, if the school, Ministry of Education and Catholic Diocese don’t work together, there is a possibility the school could shut all together.

‘‘There a risk in everything that something could happen. We can only do what’s good for the people who want to keep the school open,’’ he says.

‘‘We can only go forward if we stand together.’’

TOM DILLANE/FAIRFAX NZ The boarding facilities at the college are boarded up as the school opens. Rudy Taylor