Phillipstown primary school won a High Court case today to stay open. Earlier this year, the Minister of Education, Hekia Parata, decided to close a number of primary schools in Christchurch including Phillipstown school. The school was very unhappy with this decision and took the case to the High Court.
The school has 165 pupils. It is a decile 1 school which means it is in a very poor area. Many parents do not have a car. If the school closes, the children will have to walk 1.6km on a busy road to Woolston school which has about 300 pupils.
The school is important to the community of Phillipstown and this was one of the reasons the judge agreed that it should not close. The other reason is that the Ministry of Education did not give detailed information about the financial reason for closing and this made it impossible for the school to argue their case. The Minister said she would consult with schools but in this case, the judge said she did not consult properly. The judge also said the school should not pay the court costs.
Hekia Parata said she needed to read what the judge said before she could make a comment and she will consult the school. Although the school won today, the future is still uncertain.
Listen to February 19th 2013 to hear more about closing Christchurch schools.
Vocabulary
decile 1 – parents’ income are in lowest 10% of the population
consult – listen to each other; exchange views