Principals slate zoning as restricting school options

Principals at two of Whangarei's largest high schools have criticised school zoning rules, saying they remove parental choice.
The Ministry of Education has capped the roll at 1160-pupil Whangarei Boys' High School and 1300-pupil Whangarei Girls' High School to prevent overcrowding.
Kamo High School, which had zoning (officially called an enrolment scheme) in 2003 and 2004, also had concerns about zoning because parents with money moved to ensure their children got into Kamo High.
This is the first year Whangarei Boys' High has had an enrolment scheme and the third for Whangarei Girls'.
The scheme means students within a zone are automatically allowed into the two schools, while those living outside the zone are accepted only if any places are left.
Whangarei Boys' headmaster Al Kirk and Whangarei Girls' co-principal Lyn Sneddon said the scheme goes against the principle of the late-1980s education reform package, Tomorrow's Schools, that parents should be able to choose their children's school.
Neither school has had to turn away students this year but may be forced to do so in the future if the roll grows.
"When you're talking about single-sex schools, I think it should be left up to parental choice," Mrs Sneddon said.
Kamo High principal Richard Abel said he had significant concerns with the scheme because parents with money could afford to get around zoning by moving.
"If you've got enough money, you can buy a house in the zone," Mr Abel said.
However, Mr Abel said an advantage of zoning was that schools knew in advance how many students they would have the following year, which made planning easier.
Kamo High's roll has grown considerably this year to 1240 (up 100 from 2005), growth which has partly been attributed to the axing of its enrolment scheme.
This year, 336 year nine students enrolled at Kamo High compared to 275 last year.
Most Northland primary and secondary schools have maintained zero to modest roll growth - Ministry of Education figures show the roll has remained around 30,000 for the past five years.
Ministry of Education Northland manager Chris Eve admitted zoning reduced parental choice, but said enrolment schemes were necessary to prevent overcrowding.
"If there is roll growth in-zone, we will provide accommodation for that," he said.
Mr Eve said Whangarei City was growing considerably, prompting the ministry to investigate whether to set up zoning at Whangarei Primary and Kamo Primary.
He was not aware of parents moving so their children could attend a certain school.
But he regularly received calls from parents moving to Whangarei who wanted to know schools' zones.
ZONING FACTS
• Implemented by the Ministry of Education to prevent overcrowding.
• A school has an "enrolment scheme" (zoning) for as long as the Ministry requests it or until the roll drops.
• Twelve Northland primary and high schools have zoning - Kamo Intermediate, Whangarei Intermediate, Whangarei Boys' High, Whangarei Girls' High, Kerikeri High, Kerikeri Primary, Glenbervie, Opua, Hurupaki, Kaingaroa, Kokopu and Okaihau College.
• Whangarei Boys' High School and Girls' High zones cover an area from Whangarei Heads to Tangiteroria in the west, to Mata in the south and Whau Valley Rd, Otangarei and Kiripaka Rd in the north.
• Once enrolled at year nine (third form), a student will automatically continue onto following years.