Hagley’s fate in hands of Minister

Press, 3 June 1982, Page 6

Hagley’s fate in hands of Minister

Hagley High School’s fate will be decided by the Minister of Education (Mr Wellington) after he reconsiders reports from the school’s board, the Christchurch Secondary Schools Council, and his department’s officials.

Mr Wellington yesterday told the chairman of the school’s board, Miss Jean Herbison, and the school’s principal, Miss R. E. Heinz, that he would make a reappraisal. The three met for 30 minutes in Wellington yesterday. Afterwards Miss Heinz said, “He is prepared to go back to.square one and reconsider the situation in the light of our discussion.”

Miss Heinz said that she thought Mr Wellington was still undecided about whether Hagley High School should stay open.

"He was just exploring other perspectives, and I think he gained a new one from our discussion,” she said.

Misses Herbison and Heinz spent most of the meeting describing the school’s role and emphasising its value.

•Miss Heinz was unable to tell how their argument affected the Minister. But they have not come away with

negative feelings, she said. Mr Wellington said that he would consult Education Department’officials next week, reconsider the reports, and then tell the school’s board of his final decision, which would then have to be approved by the Cabinet.

Christchurch’s seven Labour Members of Parliament have thrown their weight behind the campaign to save the school. In a joint statement, they said that closing the school would be false economy and “against education."

They were critical of the “hamfisted and secretive” way in which Mr Wellington made his decisions.

“The Minister appears to be trying to cover up his lack of any adequate ground for taking a - decision he should not take,” they said. Hagley High School specialised in “secondchance” education, and the prospects of adult student numbers increasing at the school were considerable.

“Not only must Hagley be preserved for the 600 adolescent students attending, it must also be permitted to continue to offer a style of education not available anywhere else in Christchurch,” they said.