Horowhenua StarSecondary schools in Horowhenua will be zoned next year as the Ministry of Education attempts to level out lop-sided numbers and plan for population growth.
The roll at Horowhenua College is more than 1000, numbers not seen since the 1950s when it was the only secondary school between Palmerston North and Wellington with 1200 students.
The ministry says the college is at risk of overcrowding, yet a short walk across town, Waiopehu College has a roll sitting at 540 with room for more, and Manawatū College in Foxton has 285 students with a capacity for 400.
Horowhenua College had 260 new entrants last year, with early modelling showing 137 potential new entrants next year within the new zone, offset by the same number expected to leave. Waiopehu College had 90 new entrants last year.
Four new $700,000 classrooms were shipped in to Horowhenua College last year to replace an old two-storey classroom block containing asbestos that was pulled down in 2020 when the school roll was sitting at 615.
Horowhenua College had hovered at 500-600 pupils for more than a decade, with the sharp rise beginning five years ago.
Ministry officials are aware of the situation, and a population forecast of an extra 20,000 people living in the region in the next 20 years – many in the new yet-to-be-built suburb Tara Ika.
There is no provision for a secondary school at Tara Ika, which will land it in the Waiopehu School zone.
The proposed zones were open for consultation and information is being shared through the ministry website. Horowhenua College held an information evening on Wednesday night, and Waiopehu is holding one next week.
The ministry says the purpose of zoning and priority criteria is to help school boards manage the risk of overcrowding with a fair and transparent process, to make the best use of the school network.
The new enrolment scheme is proposed to begin from term 1 next year.
The proposed zone is clearly defined on the ministry website. It shows a dividing line zig-zagging through map of Levin from Kuku to the Manawatū River.
Horowhenua College acting principal Gilbert Hokianga says without an enrolment scheme, new ministry-funded classrooms will not be forthcoming.
“We have always valued parental choice in secondary education in our region, and realise there will be many whānau who will be affected by the proposed zone,” he says. “We encourage our community to provide feedback on the scheme to the Ministry of Education.”
Waiopehu College principal Guy Reichenbach says there’s an obvious imbalance, and the zone plan enabled both schools to plan.
“The ministry works very hard on the numbers and forward planning makes it so much easier in determining what our needs might be,” he says.
Manawatū College principal Matt Fraser says their roll had ebbed and flowed in recent times. In 2010 there were 400 students.
He says as the zone precluded students from Shannon attending Horowhenua, it could see a lift in new entrants at his school.
“We’ll just have to wait and see. We have room for more,” he says.
Feedback on the zone proposal can be emailed to the ministry before July 14 at: Network.Lowerhutt@education.govt.nz
