The commissioner appointed to run Hato Petera College has described the efforts by a group of people to increase the college’s roll as harmful.
Tauira Tawhito Steering Komiti, a group of former students, parents and a kaumatua, have been able to increase the roll from one to five.
They say they have received nearly 500 expressions of interest.
The commissioner, Lex Hammil, confirmed that the roll had increased to 5.
He said, however, “enrolment did not match attendance on the ground.
“We’ve had sporadic attendance by all students.”
With Hato Petera in a state of flux, Hamill said the Tauira Tawhito Steering Komiti’s “personal crusade” was harmful.
“I have faith in the process that is being initiated by the Minister of Education” he said.
The Tauira Tawhito Steering Komiti, however, feels it had been left out the decision-making process.
Former student and spokesperson for the group, Ratahi Tomuri said “We want to drive this.
“We’ve put together a marketing strategy and a plan to get the school out of debt, but we have no transparency about what’s happening.
“We want to help, we’re here to do the hard work. The school was once a thriving kura, and it still can be, but it needs the right people behind it.”
Tomuri told Stuff in April that allowing only baptised Catholics to attend the school, and closing the school’s boarding facilities, harmed the enrolment process.
But Hamill has pointed out that, because Hato Petera is a state integrated Catholic school, “We’ve got to get to a roll of 20 before we can take one non-Catholic.”
A spokesperson from the Catholic Diocese of Auckland said the results of the consultation process, the submissions of which closed on May 14, were being considered by the Ministry of Education and Minister Chris Hipkins.
Source
- stuff.co.nz
- Image: propertynoise.co.nz
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