12/06/2024
Lou
[FYI request #26905 email]
Tēnā koe Lou
OIA: 1329339 –
Massey Hobsonville Kaipara catchment growth
Thank you for your email of 21 May 2024 to the Ministry of Education (the Ministry) requesting the
following information:
I have a year 6 and a year 2 student at Matua Ngaru School. A high school has been promised
for this location for years and years now. There have been numerous requests for a local high
school for the continuing rising numbers of high school aged locals and there have been many
vague responses with little progress made. I want to know how close the school actually is to
being built, have negotiations started with the second land owner yet? Is there a back
up/contingency plan if this land negotiation fails? The local community needs some certainty
and firm dates that we can expect a school to be built.
Your request has been considered under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act).
The Ministry has received a large number of requests for official information on the topic of a high
school in Kumeū and growth in the Massey Hobsonville Kaipara catchment. We appreciate the
time taken by the wider community to write to the Ministry.
We have developed one comprehensive response for all queries to date regarding the
establishment of a new high school in Kumeū.
Acquisition of a new site in Kumeū
We appreciate that Kumeū is a fast-growing area and are aware of the population growth and
resulting demand on the availability of secondary schools in the community.
The Ministry initiated negotiations for a Kumeū site in February 2023. There are two sites that
comprise the potential College site and negotiations with the second landowner have not yet
commenced. The Ministry remains in discussions with the owners of the first site. Information
about the location of the potential College site is not publicly available to ensure that any
commercial negotiations are not impacted. Therefore, any further details relating to these
negotiations, are withheld under section 9(2)(j) of the Act, to enable the Ministry to carry on,
without prejudice or disadvantage, negotiations.
Auckland Office, Level 3, 12-18 Normanby Road, Mt Eden, Auckland 1024
Private Bag 92644, Symonds Street, Auckland 1149 Phone: +64 9 632 9400
As required under section 9(1) of the Act, I have considered the public interest in releasing the
information withheld. I do not consider the public interest considerations favouring the release of
this information are sufficient to outweigh the need to withhold it at this time.
The approach to acquisition negotiations for land considers a number of factors, including land
options available, owner interest in sel ing and timing of the requirement. We note that the Minister
of Education, as a requiring authority, can seek to use compulsory acquisition of land for education
purposes through the provisions of the Public Works Act 1981. The large majority of land
purchases are achieved by the Ministry without the use of compulsory acquisition. The Minister
reserves the right to utilise those provisions if necessary and suitable. It would not be appropriate
for the Ministry to comment on whether the education requirement in Kumeū is a candidate for
compulsory acquisition.
There are currently no construction or design plans underway for the new high school in Kumeū,
as any planning is subject to the acquisition of a new site and the subsequent development of a
business case. Therefore, we are refusing the request for al available information on the plans for
the building of a new high school in Kumeū under section 18(e) of the Act, as the information does
not currently exist. The Ministry remains engaged with Auckland Council and other government
agencies to inform and be informed about plans for residential growth.
Enrolments and roll growth in Kumeū
The Ministry's decisions to invest in school property, including Kumeū, are subject to a national
prioritisation process, budget and funding approvals. The Ministry must prioritise its property
investment to areas where the need is greatest. Decision making on the prioritisation of new
schools considers a number of factors including the growth in student rol numbers and pressure
on the existing school network. These factors are considered across the entire national new
schools programme.
The Ministry continues to monitor rol s for the number of out of zone students and actively reminds
schools in the area of their obligations to consider the longer-term implications of accepting out of
zone enrolments. This includes working with individual schools to manage their out of zone student
numbers. The Secretary of Education’s (the Secretary) guidelines on the operation of an enrolment
scheme clearly state the fol owing:
“An enrolment scheme is meant to be a tool that enables a board to prevent overcrowding at its
school. The board has to remember that students living within the home zone have an absolute
right to be enrol ed. The board should not, therefore, enrol so many out-of-zone students that
the capacity of the school is exceeded if, at a later date, students living in the home zone claim
their right to be enrol ed. The Ministry of Education wil not look favourably on a request for
additional classroom accommodation in such a situation. In al cases the Ministry wil assess the
situation on a case-by-case basis.”
The Ministry has various options to manage growth in schools across the network, including the
fol owing:
1. We wil fund additional classrooms where a school is significantly over utilised from in-zone
growth. Where required, additional teaching spaces are provided to accommodate growing
rol s. These may be permanent or temporary as appropriate.
OIA: 1329339
2. The Secretary may amend an enrolment scheme if the Ministry considers it necessary to
avoid overcrowding, or the likelihood of overcrowding, at the school. The process for
amending an enrolment scheme is the same as the process for developing a new
enrolment scheme and would involve consultation with the schools and community.
A very large rol does not necessarily negatively affect the quality of education. There are already
several high performing, large secondary schools in Auckland. Schools in the wider area (including
Huapai District School) are served by Massey High School and to a lesser extent by Kaipara
Col ege and Hobsonvil e Point Secondary School.
Massey High School has historical y had sufficient student places to accommodate significant
growth, however, we recognise the ongoing rol growth the Massey catchment is experiencing. We
can confirm that Massey High School is being considered for additional classrooms to address in-
zone rol growth. The Ministry is also planning to invest in their existing 12-classroom D block. Two
classrooms in this block are currently in use, whilst the remainder are removed from service due to
their condition. This means that the school is temporarily at capacity. A remediation project would
include reroofing and recladding the block, as wel as internal upgrades throughout such as new
carpet and wal linings. The reopening of D block wil provide additional permanent teaching
spaces for the school.
You may find the fol owing information from the National Education Growth Plan 2019 for the
Massey-Hobsonvil e-Kaipara area to be of interest:
https://assets.education.govt.nz/public/Documents/School/Network-of-
Schools/MasseyHobsonvil eKaiparaCatchmentPlan.pdf
Please note, we may publish this response on our website from the fol owing working day. Your
name and contact details will be removed.
Thank you again for your email. You have the right to ask an Ombudsman to review my decision
on your request, in accordance with section 28 of the Act. You can do this by writing to
[email address] or to Office of the Ombudsman, PO Box 10152, Wel ington 6143.
Nāku noa, nā
Isabel Evans
Hautū | Deputy Secretary
Te Mahau | Te Tai Raro (North)
OIA: 1329339
