Christchurch schools fear job cuts as rolls fall

– The Press

Almost 6000 pupils are still enrolled in schools outside Christchurch, prompting fears of major budget and staff cuts at city schools.

The city could lose 350 teaching positions if those pupils did not return, Canterbury Primary Principals’ Association president John Bangma said.

In total, 5858 pupils have not returned to Christchurch after the February 22nd earthquake, MoE figures show.

At the post-quake peak, 10,207 Christchurch pupils were enrolled across New Zealand. While 3661 are back, 688 have gone overseas.

However, some schools had not updated their rolls, the ministry said.

The loss was a concern for many schools – especially those in the city’s eastern suburbs – because the Government assigns funding on school rolls.

Avondale Primary School had lost 100 pupils, but principal Mark Scown hoped more would return this year.

The school was running at about 85 per cent of its pre-quake 424-strong roll.

About 60 pupils would not return, having enrolled in schools from Whangarei to Invercargill, and in Australia.

Scown said many of eastern Christchurch’s 17 schools were reporting similar losses.

He did not want to contemplate the impact of losing 100 pupils, which would be equivalent to almost four teaching positions and tens of thousands of dollars in operations grant funding.

Principals had been told by the Secretary for Education, Karen Sewell, that the Government would continue to fund schools for their existing teacher numbers this year. However, schools’ operations grants, which paid for support staff and the day-to-day running, would be reassessed on July 1st, 2011.

Scown said he had already asked staff to cut their budgets to 80 per cent, and could be forced to reduce support staff’s hours or make some redundant. He believed the roll would recover, and wanted the Government to provide affected schools with a subsidy to help out.

Christchurch East MP Lianne Dalziel had asked the Education Ministry to come up with a support package that recognised the eastern suburbs were going to need additional help. The school operations grants needed to be secured for two years, along with teacher entitlements, she said. “While staffing levels have been guaranteed for 2011, the future is incredibly uncertain in the east.”

Education Minister Anne Tolley said there had been no decision on funding for quake-hit schools.

Bangma said it was a difficult situation because the Government was also under financial pressure.

Freeville School has lost 30 pupils from its pre-quake 326-strong roll. Principal John Leonard said he was not sure how that would impact on funding next year.