Kawerau Intermediate principal Kawerau Intermediate principal Daryl Aim says he will be leading the fight to retain the school as a separate entity as phase two of the mill town's school merger proposal begins.
Late last week Education Minister Anne Tolley released a set of options following community consultation, which was part of phase one of the proposal.
The three options are merging with Kawerau College, closing the intermediate and creating a college serving Years 7 to 13 or leaving both schools as they are.
"The option to keep both schools is the only real option available as far as delivering a quality education for the students of Kawerau goes," Mr Aim said.
"We will be pushing for community support to get behind us."
Mr Aim said he felt for the principals of Kawerau North and Central Schools who had effectively been told they would be closed at the end of the year.
"That would be the hardest thing for any principal to do," Mr Aim said. "To face your staff with that kind of news."
"My heartfelt thoughts are with everyone associated with these schools."
He said he and his staff would be battling hard and planned to petition every adult in Kawerau.
"We will be door knocking, going to the local market armed with information and engaging in as much community consultation as possible," Mr Aim said.
A full immersion Maori kura is another of the options that has been put before the Kawerau community.
Mrs Tolley says as part of phase two, she will be inviting parents, teachers and the community to have their say in a second round of consultation on the future of Kawerau schools.
"We want to work with the community to strengthen the education that is provided in Kawerau so students can achieve to the best of their abilities."
Mrs Tolley says Kawerau schools are experiencing some of the most rapid roll declines in the country, with the six schools losing around 60 students every year.
"The decline in school rolls has been a concern for many years, and the reorganisation will provide a more positive environment for students in the years ahead."
Among the revised set of options is the establishment of a designated character Year 1-13 Maori immersion kura.
"As 75 per cent of school-aged children in Kawerau are Maori, I understand there is a lot of community support for establishing a Maori immersion wharekura," Mrs Tolley said.
"This would help students learn in an environment that fosters Maori language and culture."
She thanked the boards of the six schools and their communities for their involvement and feedback during consultation.
The Kawerau community will also be asked to consider options for school mergers that will achieve the aim of creating fewer, larger schools.
The options include:
Kawerau North School, Kawerau Central School and Putauaki School
- Merge Kawerau North School, Kawerau Central School and Putauaki School to form a Year 1-6 school; or
- Merge Kawerau North School, Kawerau Central School and Putauaki School to form a Year 1-8 school.
Kawerau South School
- Retain Kawerau South School as a Year 1-6 school; or
- Retain Kawerau South School as a Year 1-8 school.
Kawerau Intermediate School and Kawerau College
- Merge Kawerau Intermediate and Kawerau College to form a Year 7-13 school; or
- Close Kawerau Intermediate and retain Kawerau College as a Year 9-13 school; or
- Retain both Kawerau Intermediate and Kawerau College.
The local Ministry of Education office will assist school boards to organise consultation with the community, with submissions closing on March 18.
The aim is to implement changes from Term One in 2012.
Kawerau North and Kawerau Central School officials could not be reached for comment.
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