Kawerau vows to keep fighting school closure | Rotorua News | Local News in Rotorua

Members of the Kawerau community have vowed to fight another round against Education Minister Anne Tolley.

At an informative and often entertaining meeting at Kawerau Intermediate last night, the people told principal Daryl Aim if he was still prepared to keep fighting for the retention of the intermediate - they would tautoko (support) him all the way.

The meeting was called after last Friday's announcement both the intermediate and college would close at the end of 2012, making way for a junior and senior school on the current college site in 2013.

The Ministry of Education decision appears to have been made against the wishes of much of the Kawerau community who have made it clear they wish for an intermediate well away from the senior school.

Speaking first at last night's meeting, Mr Aim said he needed a clear directive from the people about which pathway to take.

"On one hand we can continue to fight the decision or, on the other, we can move forward and make the joint school work," Mr Aim said. "I'm as worn out and as tired of the process as you are, but we still have some fight left in us."

Mr Aim said it broke his heart to see so many school buses full of Kawerau students head for Whakatane every day and, ultimately, the fight was to provide the quality education young people of the town deserved.

Kawerau Intermediate Board of Trustees chairwoman Petrina Hayes said with the right people in the right places, the new school could work.

"But is it what we want?," Mrs Hayes asked the audience. "The Government have ground us all down and are now herding us in a direction they want us to go."

From the floor the first person to speak told Mr Aim and Mrs Hayes they had come this far. "If you've got fight left in you, I will back you all the way and give it everything I've got."

A woman said she wanted to continue the fight, but was concerned it would mean losing all say in the establishment of the new school.

Another woman implored people to support the college otherwise the town would lose that too. "Parents need to be there in a heartbeat to back their children, it doesn't matter what school they attend," she said.

Mana party candidate and a foundation member of Kawerau Intermediate, Annette Sykes, said the school had transformed her life. "Like the lady in the audience said, the intermediate years are where you identify and develop who you are and begin to realise your dreams," Ms Sykes said.

She described the Government processes surrounding the Kawerau school's restructure as laborious, disconnected and undemocratic and said she believed there was a legal strategy that could be put in place to continue the fight.

"I find the fact Mrs Tolley hasn't even fronted up to the town as part of this process, very disturbing," Ms Sykes said.

She shared a light-hearted moment with Labour candidate Steve Chadwick, also at the meeting. "Steve was my midwife when I had both my children so you could say we know each other intimately and we are both here tonight to support this community."

A show of hands supporting the continuation of the fight concluded the meeting.

Kawerau Intermediate is organising buses to take members of the community into Whakatane on Friday evening to watch a debate between members of National, Labour and the Mana Party.

"It will be the first time people from here will be able to tell Mrs Tolley how they feel," Mrs Hayes said.