By LIBBY MIDDLEBROOK education reporter
Popular North Island schools are being swamped with enrolments as families shift to meet new strict entry requirements.
About 20 students enrolled at Auckland Grammar School this week after their families shifted into its zone, guaranteeing their children a place at the school.
Westlake Boys' High School has also been inundated with an increased number of applications, with 30 to 50 more students expected to enrol before the school year begins.
"Families are arriving on our doorstep, saying they're now living in the zone," said John Morris, the principal of Auckland Grammar.
"They're coming in for one particular purpose and that's to get into the school."
Under new enrolment legislation, schools must define a home zone. All students within it have an automatic right to attend the school, and the limited places available to those who live outside it are decided by ballot.
The rush on enrolments may have been caused by families waiting until January before shifting into a school zone to save money on rent.
Auckland Grammar and Westlake Boys' are both expecting to exceed their maximum projected rolls for year nine students because of the influx.
Mr Morris said up to 60 more students could enrol before Auckland Grammar opened, forcing the school to make last-minute teacher appointments.
None of the families enrolling their students this week had bought property within the zone and were renting or leasing.
Westlake headmaster Jim Dale said the school had not set aside enough student places to accommodate the large number of families moving into the area. If enrolment numbers grew much more, the school would have to employ more teachers and reorganise its timetable.
"We're going to have extreme difficulty coping with the influx of in-zone students ... the roll is at a crisis at this point."
In Hamilton, Hillcrest High School has been receiving an increased number of enrolments from people shifting into its zone since the rules changed last year.
Principal Kevin Hessell said some desperate families had been advertising for local rental properties to gain their children entry into the school. Inquiries had increased this month.
"It's becoming a management nightmare," said Mr Hessell.
Epsom Girls' and Avondale College were also expecting an increased number of enrolments this month from people moving into the schools' zones.
The Ministry of Education national operations manager, Ray Webb, said schools were required to set aside places to cater for students moving into their zone during the year.
Schools would not be disadvantaged by increased enrolments as funding would cater for the number of students attending.
The duty Minister of Education, Steve Maharey, said some schools would always be more popular than others. "The problem in the past was that you were getting schools choosing who could go to the school."
He said schools could decline enrolment applications if families exploited the system.
Families shift to beat zone constraints
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