Redcliffs School decision soon
A decision on whether Redcliffs School will be able to return to its original site is expected early next week.
Principal Rose McInerney and two board members will meet Education Minister Hekia Parata in Wellington on November 1, where Parata will announce the future location for the Christchurch school.
In July, Parata announced she was backtracking from her initial proposal to shut the school down by the end of 2016.
She said it would be allowed to remain open, although an alternative site would be explored for the facility.
At the time she did not rule out a return to the school’s original Main Rd site.
Parata said authorities needed to explore the ‘‘possible psychosocial effects’’ of that option before a final decision could be made.
A Ministry of Education-appointed steering group was set up to explore the potential implications.
It was tasked with carrying out a feasibility analysis to weigh up the pros and cons of relocation.
Three months on, McInerney said that she and the board of trustees were confident the school will return to the Main Rd site.
‘‘We have expressed this view to the Minister.
‘‘After such a big year, that’s been such a successful year for the school, we just feel really excited about being able to plan to move forward.’’
The school was forced off its original site six years ago after the June 2011 aftershock, and had been operating from the van Asch Deaf Education Centre in Sumner since.
Board spokesman Mark Robberds said the ‘‘psychosocial’’ risk of returning to Main Rd was ‘‘negligible’’.
If needed, the board and the community would be able to ‘‘put processes in place that can easily deal with that’’.
‘‘It’s just about educating people that the risk is non-existent.’’
Geotechnical experts previously compiled a report to dismiss the Minister’s concerns about the potential disruption to the school in the event of another earthquake. It is unclear which sites the ministry considered for relocation, other than Barnett Park.
Parata would not comment when asked about the process last week, other than confirming she was still in discussions with the board.
She confirmed she had received a report into the potential psychosocial implications, but would not say whether it raised any concerns.
Both McInerney and Robberds said they were open to the option of an alternative site.
‘‘If the ministry or the Minister decides that there are some advantages to an alternative site, then we can’t rule that out.’’
". . . we just feel really excited about being able to plan to move forward." Redcliffs School Principal Rose McInerney