Where's our high school?

The good news is, four new primary schools in the West, reports Holly Reid. But angry parents want to know: where's the new high school - the one that means our kids don't have to travel two hours every day?
The Education Ministry's plans for extra schools at Hobsonville, Westgate, and the Kumeu and Huapai area overlook an urgent need for more secondary schools in the area, says Massey parent Carllyn Ivory.
Thousands of families in Hobsonville, Massey and Whenuapai send their teens to the North Shore for secondary schooling, with some children travelling up to two hours a day.
``The children are actually leaving at 7am to get to school. It's peak hour traffic and you're talking at least 40 minutes' drive on a good day to get to schools way out of the area,'' says Carllyn.
Massey High School is the only secondary school for families living in Hobsonville, Whenuapai, part of Henderson, Massey, Swanson, Kumeu and parts of the West Coast.
Its roll has leapt in the past six years to 2500. Many children in Massey's zone live too far away to walk to school and parents like Carllyn pay $20 a week for public transport to get her 15-year-old son to class.
Other parents pay a little more to send their children to smaller North Shore schools, such as Rutherford High or Glenfield College and Westlake Boys and Girls.
A 2003 survey by the Education Ministry found only 654 students from 1390 living in Hobsonville enrolled for Year 9 at Massey.
Another 703 out of 1620 living in Massey enrolled, and just 118 out of 443 from Kumeu.
What if all those students wanted to finish their senior schooling at Massey?
Principal Bruce Ritchie says pressure on the roll has levelled out this year, having reached the school's limit. ``At the moment we're happy with where we are, but I don't know if we'd want to get any bigger,'' he says.
The ministry's proposal for new primary schools anticipates a population growth of 16,000 - including 2000 students - in the next 15 years.
Mr Maharey told the NZ Herald last week the proposal for four additional schools for Year 1 to 8 pupils is not set in stone.
``Whatever decisions are eventually made, we will ensure that the new schools add to and work with the existing schools in the area,'' he says.
Consultation on the new schools is expected to begin in July.