No specialist school funding for city ‘spit in the face’ – mum
A woman desperately trying to get her 9-year-old daughter into a specialist school is outraged Christchurch schools are missing out on a share of $89 million in funding.
Minister of Education Erica Stanford last week committed $89m million of funding,towards maintenance and repairs to existing specialist schools, including $26m to create 17 new satellite classrooms.
This follows the $153mearmarked for charter schools in the 2024 Budget, which resulted in calls for the money to be used in the struggling public system instead.
A Christchurch mother has been trying to get her 9-year-old daughter into specialist school Ferndale Te Ahu, in Merivale, Christchurch, for the past two years, but have been waiting due to limited spaces.
The woman, who The Press agreed not to name to protect her child’s privacy, said her daughter has malan syndrome, an ultra-rare condition that has caused a mental disability and severely delayed her speech and development.
Her daughter had access to the highest level of Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS) funding and a teacher aide, but the public school she is at does not have the knowledge to help her learn.
“It’s almost like a babysitting service, she’s not actually learning according to her abilities,” her mother said.
“A mainstream school is good for mainstream children, but these children are totally different, they need a totally different approach.”
Learning none of the new satellite classrooms were for Christchurch felt like a “spit in the face”, she said.
Of the 17 new satellite classrooms, only two will be in the South Island, at Maitai School in Nelson. Two will be in Taupo, and the remaining 13 will be in Auckland.
“This is so shameful. I’m sorry to be so drastic, but when you are in a situation with a child like this, that’s just outrageous. She deserves more than this, she is such a beautiful little girl inside and out, essential years are going past and she’s not getting the right help.”
Ferndale Te Ahu principal Maureen Poulter said the school was at capacity, and had been asked to reduce its roll.
It could cater for 131 students, and last year had to decline 79% of its applicants due to a lack of space.
The school’s base campus was damaged during the earthquakes and a new campus under construction will have four classrooms compared to the six it previously had.
“We’re really suffering with lack of provision, but we are not the only specialist school in this situation, most specialist schools throughout the country are at capacity,” Poulter said.
Despite the fact the school would not see any of the new funding, Poulter said it was an exciting step forward for specialist schools.
“We might not have the best solutions right now, we understand there is budget constraints. We’re excited for other people where that's been a possibility but we know that this is just the beginning and we really want to work with the minister of education around how we can move forward on this.”
Trish Grant, inclusive education lead for IHC, said thousands of children in the public system had been left without support.
A child had to have ORS funding to attend a specialist school, however funding was available for only high needs learners, causing many children to miss out.
“It’s going to be great for those specialist schools and we hope that the units (satellite classrooms) are going to work really well, [but] where is the investment in the bulk of disabled students in schools today? When will the government invest in them?”
Inclusive Education Action group director Heather Lear said the funding, like the $153m given to charter schools, missed the majority of children in need.
“This isn’t going to be a silver bullet, this might support the very small number of kids who actually do attend specialist schools, but it’s not going to support the others,” she said.
“Every child should be able to attend their local school with their siblings, with their peers and that’s where the investment should go.”
Construction of satellite classrooms is expected to start in term 4 this year and be completed within 12 months. Three schools will also be redeveloped as part of the funding.