Purpose of schools is education

Phillipstown School took the government to court and won.

The lengthy process over whether or not it was to merge with neighbouring Woolston School had to be gone through again and the same concussion was reached.

It was in the best interests of the schools, and the taxpayers who fund them, to merge.

The principal hasn’t accepted that:

. . . Phillipstown School principal Tony Simpson said the school would be consulting lawyers over next steps.

The process had been flawed and stressful leaving him feeling “at times bullied”.

He said he not had a satisfactory response from the Ministry as to why the school was the one to close and looked forward to the release of an Ombudsman report into the schools’ reshuffle.

“The public of New Zealand have not been presented with all the facts.” .

The public have their own lives and concerns. If they have any about this it will be that what is in the best outcome for the children and the best use of public money.

With that in mind and without the emotion of those closely involved, the Ministry’s decision is right.

People closer to the action share that view.

The grapevine tells me that other schools in Christchurch have lost patience with Phillipstown and resent the money and energy the Ministry has to expend on this fight when it could be directed more positively elsewhere.

However, Simpson said his main priority was the children. “We’ve got to make sure the children are catered for.” . .

That won’t be achieved by more legal action and delaying tactics.

Board chairwoman Alicia Ward said the school was “not dead yet” and would fight to the death.

Without the school the community risked “fizzing and dying” she said. . .

Schools do form a hub for communities but that isn’t their purpose. It’s to educate children.

That will happen at the Woolston site where $11.8 million is to be spent on development and the community can be involved in that.

Schools leaders have wasted far too much money and time fighting the inevitable already, it’s time for them to stop the emoting and, as Tahu Potiki writes,  start leading:

Dear Phillipstown School, please get a grip. Fight to the death? Really?

I can understand that a decision such as a school closing is an emotional one and pushes buttons at a number of levels but, as an outsider, I have to say that the appearance of the key players advocating for the school is petulant, irrational and pointless.

We have kids that attend a local school and it does play an important part in our community but we are predicting changes some time in the near future. There are three schools between here and Dunedin and only about 300 pupils with the spread being far from even. We have always expected that the ministry will eventually step in and make a call. When it does I certainly hope our communities will act with a little more balance and perspective than we have seen from Phillipstown.

The Minister of Education does not have a bottomless pit of money to simply let schools with diminishing rolls and depreciating assets carry on existing regardless. There are serious responsibilities to take in to consideration as post-earthquake Christchurch reconstructs and reconfigures and all the social institutions and community infrastructure clearly need to reposition themselves.

There are a few things that flabbergast me about this reasonably minor storm in a teacup.

Firstly the fact that Mai Chen has been engaged again for further court action. I have worked with Mai before and she is certainly a force to be reckoned with and I rate her highly but she does not come without a cost. . .

The second thing is that the ministry is proposing that the new school the Phillipstown children would be relocated to would benefit from an $11.3 million investment. This is a glorious opportunity and I would have expected community leaders to be working furiously to have some influence over how that investment might work in the best interests of the newly configured school. I would not have expected a complete denial that an investment of this magnitude is a huge opportunity. . .

Thirdly it has been very disappointing to see the Labour Party playing politics and attempting to manipulate emotions. If they really have said that they would keep the school open then they have dropped pretty low in my estimation.

David Cunliffe is already looking like a desperate character after his comments on the royal tour but this is, quite frankly, adding to the embarrassment. It has the appearance of vote buying without any of the analysis and objective assessment of the community’s situation. They may as well be promising a $100 increase in the dole for all the unemployed that vote for Labour. Ultimately it cannot be delivered.

This is cynical and unprincipled vote buying in one small area that will lose far more in others who know there are far better ways to spend scarce public money.

Fourthly it is highly questionable in terms of role modelling. Trotting your kids out to cry in front of the cameras to make your point makes me wince. A group of parents that weren’t moaning about dumb people making dumb decisions may well have aided their transition in a much more positive fashion. Instead the children have been drawn in to dramatics and will experience a degree of trauma that could probably have been avoided.

Children take their lead from adults. they have been let down by those who should be showing leadership.

Finally, community is much more than a school. If there is a collective view that the community will die because the school has been merged with a boost of $11m then there are some seriously confused people in that community. Real community will be looking for opportunity and growth. Instead the blinkers are on and one has to question the sincerity of those in key roles and their agenda. I do wonder if the principal lives in Phillipstown or if his personal residence is in some other suburb. . .

It’s time for the adults to act like grown-ups, take some deep breaths and do what’s best for the children.

That’s accept the decision and work to ensure the transition to the new school is as seamless as possible.