School rebuilding after twister

REACHING OUT: Mount Maunganui Intermediate principal Lisa Morresey is hoping the community will come to the school's aid to cover the high cost of repairs.

A tornado-stricken school has been relieved of a huge financial burden but still needs help from its community following an insurance "loophole".

The Ministry of Education's property insurance did not cover all of the damage Mount Maunganui Intermediate suffered in May but has fronted up with $33,000 to assist with repairs.

The twister caused thousands of dollars in damage to the school and its new $120,000 astro turf.

Principal Lisa Morresey said it had worked through the insurance process with the ministry and about $22,000 was covered by its insurance, including windows, roofing, doors, spouting, an airconditioning unit and the removal of trees.

However, she did not know that things like fences, site works and shade sails were not covered.

Because its astro turf had not been finished and had not been insured separately it was also uninsured and needed $36,000 to be fixed, she said.

All up about $45,000 of damage was uninsured, forcing the school to apply to the ministry for extraordinary funding, explaining the "loopholes in the insurance policy and the financial commitments our board already had".

Mrs Morresey spoke to Bay of Plenty MP Todd Muller and Minister of Education Nikki Kaye following the tornado and said it was phenomenal the ministry was giving a large contribution.

The money would be used to pay for shade sails, the astro turf and fences but there was still a $7000 to $8000 shortfall, despite $5000 in donations, she said.

But she hoped that hurdle would be overcome today with a community fashion show and charity auction.

"Through that sadness, disappointment and crisis the ministry has come to the party and our community has rallied around and we are very grateful."

Minister of Education Nikki Kaye said she was pleased the ministry was able to work with the school to find a solution to ensure the astro turf could be replaced.

"This was a rare and exceptional circumstance and I'm glad the ministry was able to step up and help the school.

"Most schools have insurance for assets that aren't core school property. However, this was an extraordinary event and everyone knows how much the community put into fundraising for the astro turf, so it was a great outcome for the school and community."

Requests for this kind of extraordinary funding were very rare and the ministry estimated it would receive about one request every two to three years, she said.

Mount Maunganui College principal Russell Gordon said the school had private insurance.

Some schools would have ministry insurance and some would have ministry and private insurance, he said.

"We did not want to take the risk of not being insured. From our point of view we are comfortable that we are covered for any act of God."

The ministry had done a good thing to bridge part of the financial gap for Mount Maunganui Intermediate, he said.