Schools for high needs... - Financial Unions

Two schools for students with high needs at the top of the South Island will finally be rebuilt or upgraded, the Education Minister announced today.

Erica Stanford, who visited Nelson to share the news, also threw her weight behind the country's three residential specialist schools after question marks about their future.

Maitai School is the only day school in the region for students with high and complex needs, but earlier this year it's much anticipated rebuild was paused.

Stanford was met with applause from school staff and parents as she announced it is one of three specialist schools that will be redeveloped with funding from this year's budget.

Maitai School principal Jenny Milne, was relieved, although she'd been told by the minister last Friday. "I was ecstatic, it was just the best news... and then I had to keep it under wraps, that was the hardest thing".

They had to close their roll due to the uncertainty around the rebuild and some families didn't know where their children would be going next year.

Milne said the school isn't fit for purpose as it was.

"We have students that are here together that we need to keep apart at times and we find that incredibly hard and it's the staff that wear it".

There are 28 specialist schools in New Zealand which are particularly for students that struggle in mainstream education. Stanford agreed many are in a poor condition and will require future funding.

"My intentions are for the future is to continue to ring-fence funding so that those schools have the knowledge that in the future there will be funding that they won't have to fight for with every other school in New Zealand".

Nelson MP Rachel Boyack said she also called for the funding to be ring-fenced and is pleased the minister listened.

"My view is that this project is not a ‘nice to have’, it is a necessity. Disabled students have just as much of a right to a quality education as any other kids in New Zealand".

Maitai School will be redeveloped on the same site as Salisbury School, which is one of the country's three residential specialist schools. They are schools where students live and learn on site.

Salisbury School Principal Ellie Salčin-Watts was pleased they were also getting a funding injection.

"Some of those buildings up to 100 years old. So the infrastructure problems relate to the piping and the electricity, the roofs, you name it".

When it rains the roofs leak, while some walls of the buildings are rotting. Many spaces also aren't suited to the students needs like the toilets which some students struggle to access due to the stairs.

Stanford wouldn't say exactly how much funding Salisbury got but said it was "significant" and over $10 million. She said it was just the first phase of the redevelopment.

The ministers funding promise shows the Government's commitment to the three residential specialist schools which have been in limbo recently.

In 2022 the United Nations recommended the Government close them and there's been ongoing concern about low rolls and lack of inclusion in mainstream education.

"I'd say to the parents in New Zealand who want these schools and these classrooms to remain open that we are committed to giving you the choice that you deserve," Stanford said.

While Sailsbury at one point had just three students it's now almost at capacity, although the other two schools have lower numbers.