Cashmere shut up

Press, 24 February 1978, Page 1

Cashmere shut up

Cashmere High School stayed closed yesterday by order of the school’s board of governors. The board’s chairman (Mr R. H. T. Thompson) said that he made the decision to close the school on Wednesday evening, in consultation with other board members, and a cancellation norice was broadcast over 3ZB the same evening. A telegram sent to the Cashmere board — along with all other boards of governors in New Zealand — was not received by Mr Thompson until yesterday. The telegram asked boards

to keep schools open and to use relieving staff. Asked whether it would have made any difference to the board’s decision if the telegram had been received a day earlier, Mr Thompson said that he could not speak for the rest of his board, but he would not have been moved to change his mind. Asked' why not, Mr Thompson said that the school was either open or not. “The idea of having a school open, then convey to parents it isn’t, is not good enough. The situation has to be made clear to parents. “The matter is between

the P.P.T.A. and the Government. Parents and children have to know w’here they stand,” he said. Asked whether he had taken into account the possibility that some teachers might be locked out as a result of the board’s decision. Mr Thompson said that as far as he had been able to ascertain there were no teachers w'ho intended going to school. However, ancillary staff worked as usual at Cashmere, as at all schools, and the principal (Mr R. A. Chapman) paid a visit in the morning.