Teachers, parents muck in as school cash runs out

RidgeView principal Mary Zellman does a fair bit of maintenance because her school can't afford a fulltime caretaker. Picture / Dean Purcell

A North Shore principal has turned caretaker in a desperate attempt to cut costs and meet a tightening budget.

Mary Zelman of Ridgeview Primary School is cleaning gutters and replacing windows because she cannot afford a fulltime caretaker.

She is joining a growing campaign for a boost to the operations grant - money the Government provides to run schools.

The campaign, led by the School Trustees Association, claims that the money schools receive does not stretch to a "free education".

Ms Zelman said she could afford to pay for a caretaker for only eight hours a week.

"I've been up on the roof dealing with overflowing gutters and just this morning I was cleaning up some smashed windows."

Ridgeview suffered particularly as funding was per-pupil and the school had only 95 students.

"But we still have toilets, vandalism, a playground, a school field and buildings that all need maintenance no matter how many children there are," said Ms Zelman.

Other teachers frequently helped out, which they did not mind, but "their job is to teach".

Many other primary and secondary schools are in similar positions.

The School Trustees Association says they are only surviving thanks to parental donations, grants and other fundraising activities.

At Wesley School in Mt Roskill, principal Brian Laing said he had often "had his head in the roof to examine wiring and the like".

The school also saved costs by asking parents and teachers to build walls, repair the playground and paint buildings.

Meanwhile, at Kaipara Flats School in Rodney, principal Jim Fraser said he was lucky because the caretaker was paid for 10 hours a week, but worked the rest of the time on a voluntary basis.

Teachers had long ago given up claiming fuel allowances, preferring to see the money go towards the school, Mr Fraser said.

The problems are not confined to small schools, according to Michelle Bacon, principal of Rutherford School in Waitakere.

With a roll of 255, Ms Bacon said she was left with just $32,000 after paying staff from her $214,000 grant.

"There's just not enough money to do the job. Those are the cold, hard figures."

School Trustees Association president Chris Haines said petitions and public meetings had been organised to highlight the funding inadequacies, which required substantial extra Government cash.

The Government says operational funding has increased by $288 million, or 18.5 per cent in real terms per student between 1999 and 2004.