Ditching school deciles: Tauranga and Bay of Plenty principals react

Arataki School principal Shelley Blakey and pupils Calais Poinga, 7, Paige Miller, 6, Nina Smith, 6, and Leo Bennington, 11, love their school no matter the decile. Photo / Zoe Hunter

It's all in a number. Just one small number that hugely impacts the school your child attends. A decile rating reflects the percentage of a school's students living in low socio-economic communities. But that number is about to be abolished. In two years' time, a new system will come into play that could give schools more funding based on another number - 26. Twenty-six measures of the family backgrounds of students and pupils. Reporters Zoe Hunter, Zizi Sparks and Cira Olivier ask Bay principals of low and high decile schools what they think of replacing the school decile system.

Replacing the school decile system will help change the stigma associated with low socio-economic schools, some Bay principals say.

But others fear it would affect the amount of funding low decile schools receive.

Education Minister Chris Hipkins has announced the Government plans to abolish the decile-based school funding system by 2021 or 2022.

It will be replaced by a new "equity index" which will give schools and early childhood services more money based on 26 measures of the family backgrounds of each child in the school.

Merivale School principal Tom Paekau said replacing a decile rating would help change the stigma associated with low decile ratings.

But the principal of the decile 1 primary school said getting rid of the ratings may decrease the support it receives.

"The only importance it has is that it entitles us to decile one support from the Ministry of Education. It does not define the identity of our school."

Merivale School principal Tom Paekau and pupils Tekaretai Te Whetu Barrett, Dessa Transom, Samuel Saua, Stevie Spriggs, Ioapo Kupita and Taya Kioa. Photo / File

Principal of decile 2 Greerton Village School, Anne Mackintosh, said increased funding for disadvantaged schools and removing the judgement and stigma related to decile rankings would be positive.

"There is also an overall erroneous belief that the quality of education is lower in a low decile school. Nothing could be further from the truth."

Arataki School principal Shelley Blakey said replacing the decile system was long overdue.

"Identifying risk factors that contribute to inequitable outcomes and allocating funding to support at-risk children makes sense. But having the resources and services to actually address the needs is what would make the difference for us."

Blakey said the school's decile 3 rating has had minimum impact on the school, with the roll growing by 200 students in the last four years.

Arataki School principal Shelley Blakey and pupils Calais Poinga, 7, Paige Miller, 6, Nina Smith, 6, and Leo Bennington, 11, love their school no matter the decile. Photo / Zoe Hunter

Eoin Crosbie, principal of decile 9 Bethlehem College, said the decile system stigmatised schools and was "a very blunt instrument".

"We accept that we get less money than lower decile schools but still have significant challenges that require resourcing well over and above what the Ministry provides."

Crosbie said the real issue was a severe lack of funding across the education sector in all state schools regardless of decile.

Shane Cunliffe of the Western Bay of Plenty Principal's Association said the move was a good thing as long as it reflected the community's current needs.

"Each school has its own community. I am hoping it is a one size fits one, not one size fits all situation so all schools are resourced and funded to the individual needs of the tamariki and whānau within the communities."

BoPDeciles

Lynmore Primary School principal Lorraine Taylor said the school received poor funding by the Government as a result of the school's decile 9 rating.

Rotorua Girls' High School principal Sarah Davis and principals' association chairman Rawiri Wihapi said deciles were an unfair or misunderstood reflection of a school's socio-economic status and did not reflect the quality of education.

Decile 1A Sunset Primary School principal Eden Chapman agreed and was unsure how the equity index will not do the same.

Ministry of Education deputy secretary of education system policy, Dr Andrea Schollmann, said the changes will only be introduced with extra funding to better support schools and reduce the impacts of socio-economic disadvantage for many students.

"The Ministry has been working with a representative reference group of principals to test the thinking behind the index, understand their concerns and to seek information on how to mitigate stigma," she said.

"We will be inviting school principals and key sector stakeholders to meetings in each region next month."

Public engagement will take place early 2020.

- Additional reporting Zizi Sparks and Cira Olivier

What the changes would mean
- Decile ratings reflect the percentage of a school's students living in low socio-economic communities.
- Possible changes would give schools more money based on 26 measures of the family backgrounds of students and pupils. Funding will be finely graduated, not divided into 10 deciles.

The 26 measures are

- Four measures relating to whether a child has involvement with Oranga Tamariki

- Three measures based on parental criminal history - The parents' education levels

- Two measures of the parents' age when the child was born and when the mother's first child was born

- How many other children the mother had before the child was born

- Five measures of how often the child has changed houses and schools

- Two measures of whether the child was born overseas and how long they lived overseas

- Three measures of how long the child's parents have been on benefits and their income from benefits

- Two measures of the parents' incomes during the child's lifetime

- Three measures of whether the child itself has been involved in the youth justice system.