Arataki School. Photo / NZME
The Arataki community plans to resist school zone changes in Mount Maunganui and Pāpāmoa which they say will "cut through the heart" of Arataki.
Under the changes, which will be implemented at the start of next year, the Mangatawa area would be re-zoned to Tahatai Coast School and the area between Concord and Taupo Aves become a "dual-zone" with Arataki School.
The Arataki School board of trustees is "deeply disappointed" in the Ministry of Education's decision to go ahead with the school rezoning and says it is "not in a position to adopt the new zone".
But the ministry says the changes will ease future roll growth pressure, current students won't be affected and changes could be reviewed in three years.
Community members took a stand against the changes when they were proposed and consulted on earlier this year.
A community hui was organised and a petition to keep current zoning gathered more than 700 signatures.
In April, school principal Shelley Blakey expressed concern the changes would prevent future generations of students deeply rooted in the Arataki community from attending their local school.
Blakey said she was feeling "deflated" by the decision but was proud of how the community had rallied in support of the school.
"I don't think at many times in your life you get to work with people as passionate as you are about a place."
Blakey reiterated she was working with Omanu School and Tahatai Coast School principals "for the greater good" of the community.
"There is no competition. Looking after our community as a whole is what all of the principals from our three schools are about."
A joint statement from the Arataki School board of trustees said they were deeply disappointed in the outcome.
Arataki School first opened in 1963, with the community growing around the school. The first stage of the residential development was primarily the area between Concord and Taupo Aves.
"This is reflected in the families from this area who have attended for four generations. These changes cut through the heart of our kura and our Arataki community."
It said the dual-zone for Arataki School and Omanu School would create "inequity and uncertainty" in the community.
"It creates an inequity across our zone; where a portion of a community has a choice that others don't."
Another concern was it would drive "ill-informed assumptions" around the quality of education and school decile ratings and drive competition between schools.
It would also bring significant "long-term and planning and staffing challenges" for the school.
The board believed the dual-zone would "significantly restrict" the opportunity for whānau to be part of the school's bilingual programme.
"If the programme is full, families inside our zone and attending the mainstream classes are the first on our waiting list. The zone change would make it almost impossible for many of our generational families, who have a long association with our Reo Rua programme, to access the programme from out of zone."
During consultation, the school had advocated for the area of Mangatawa and around Tamapahire Marae to stay within its zone.
"Due to our long history and connection with the people and area."
The board said it would continue to "work tirelessly" to ensure the best outcome for the school community.
"We have told the Ministry of Education that we are not in a position to adopt the new zone."
Tahatai Coast School principal Matt Skilton said its board was working with Ngā Potiki and Arataki School to ensure there was a "collegial approach".
Omanu School principal Brett Laren said they were focused on working with all neighbouring schools towards a more positive outcome for the wider community.
Arataki School parent Vicky McGreal said the final decision was "devastating". She was concerned the dual-zone would create a rivalry.
McGreal, who had been a resident for the past 10 years, said she would continue to take a stand against the changes.
"We will fight this, it's not fair."
The mum of two said the school rezoning was just one of the many changes taking place in Arataki.
"It is already changing - new buildings, new apartments, the price of houses. It is safe, it is home. It is where they feel wanted, welcome and loved."
Diane Bennett has lived in Arataki since the 60s. She and generations of her family attended the school.
She described it as a "close community" filled with proud residents.
"We are Arataki, and we will always be Arataki. We wear it on our hearts. It is an amazing place, and there are generations of families who we have been brought up with and are still here in these streets," she said.
Bennett was "very disappointed" with the rezoning outcome. She believed it was "ripping the heart out of the area".
"It is about identity, it is about knowing who are and where you come from. Those families living in those streets are fully amongst the heartbeat of Arataki.
"And then taking Mangatawa out of the picture altogether - that's a whole identity, that's whakapapa to our people up there."
Her friend Audrey Rimaha has had five generations or 31 members of family attend Arataki School, has worked there and said the school is like "whānau".
Ministry deputy secretary sector engagement and support Helen Hurst said the dual-zone between Concord and Taupo Aves meant students living in the overlapping area would have a choice of enrolment at either Omanu or Arataki.
"Currently both schools take significant numbers of students from this area, Arataki as in-zone students and Omanu School as out-of-zone students."
She said the sharing of the zone had resulted from listening to the community.
"We have consulted with the school, the board of trustees, held public meetings, attended three hui specifically with the Arataki community, conducted a public survey, and held further meetings with iwi and the schools to finalise the results of the consultation."
No students at Arataki School had been affected by the sharing of the enrolment zone, she said.
"In order to ease future roll growth pressure on schools, each school's enrolment scheme was enlarged to the east to alleviate pressure," she said.
Hurst said through the consultation process Ngā Pōtiki indicated it was happy with the zone boundary change.
The ministry recognised the value of the "community connection" within Arataki. It would review the enrolment zone in three years time if growth pressure continued, she said.
It would meet with the Arataki School community at the start of term 3 to explain the decision further.
He founded Kiwi Can in Ōpōtiki and Tauranga, reaching over 3700 youth weekly.