25 Nov 2009

Aorangi School confident injunction will succeed

3:20 pm on 25 November 2009

Aorangi Primary School in Christchurch is confident its application for an injunction to keep the school open will succeed.

After months of uncertainty, Education Minister Anne Tolley announced on Tuesday that the school will close in January.

The school plans to seek a judicial review of that decision.

Board member and lawyer Andrew Oh says Education Ministry staff acknowledged in their final report to the Minister that should the board apply for an injunction, it was likely to succeed.

The board has said the school, and its bilingual unit in particular, cater for a specific group of needy children, including refugees.

Mr Oh says the Minister gazetted her controversial decision too late in the year for Aorangi children to be placed in other schools.

The primary school, which Prime Minister John Key attended, has a roll of 90 children.

Ms Tolley said on Tuesday she cannot justify spending more than $2 million to replace school buildings.

Aorangi School principal Stephanie Thompson Ms Thompson believes there may be another agenda at work, as the school is on prime real estate.

The ministry will put a plan in place to support every student and their family, including help enrolling at new schools.

Aorangi School will officially close on 27 January 2010.