The bishop of Auckland, Patrick Dunn, has announced a consultation process about the future of Hato Petera College.
The Bishop said one of the options to be considered is the possible closure of the school.
However he gave an assurance that the school will stay open for the rest of the year.
Furthermore any decision on the school’s future will be made in time for families to plan for 2017.
Dunn said The Ministry of Education has approved the launch of the consultation process.
Interested individuals and groups are encouraged to become involved in the process and have until Wednesday 7 September to provide written submissions.
More information is available on the Auckland Catholic Diocese’s website
Hato Petera College is a co-educational Year 9-13 state integrated school located in Northcote on Auckland’s North Shore.
The 1 July roll was 49 students, with all of these students identifying as Maori.
Dunn says he has concerns about the low number of students enrolled, the impact the low roll has on the breadth of curriculum that can be offered.
Other concerns included school finances and breaches of an integration agreement.
There has also been breakdown in the relationship between the Board of Trustees and Hato Petera Ltd (previously Te Whanau o Hato Petera Trust Board) which impacts on the governance of the school.
“I know this will cause some uncertainty for families with sons and daughters attending Hato Petera.
“I also recognise that Hato Petera College has a proud history…however, on balance, I believe the time is right to make informed decisions on the future of the school.”
Dunn noted that the consultation is about the school itself, not the hostel or the school site as any decisions about these aspects would be made once the school’s future has been decided.
“However, to allay any concerns I can confirm that if at the end of the process the school did close, the site will not be sold and should be used for education purposes.”
Hato Petera is Auckland’s last Maori boarding school. Two other Auckland Maori boarding schools, St Stephen’s and Queen Victoria, were closed in the early 2000s.
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