SCHOOL DISTRICTS

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 143, 18 June 1924, Page 8

SCHOOL DISTRICTS

KILBIRNIE DISPUTE,AGAIN

EDUCATION BOARD STICKS TO ITS GUNS. - j The boundary dispute, which has been exercising the minds oj'school committees at Hataitai and Kilbirnie1 for some weeks past, and which resulted in the resignation of the latter committee en' bloc was again discussed by the Wellington 'Education Board to-day. At the-last meeting of the board a Secision was reached to the effect that an area amounting to between 60 and 70 acres should be transferred from .the Kilbirnie district to the Hataitai district. In committee la«t evening the members of both committees met the board and'put their views forward. . \ • „ When the question 'was raised at todays meeting of the board Mr. E P Rishwcrth-raised the question^ to'whether a plebiscite of the residents in thedisputed area should not be taken, for the purpose of deciding which area they preferred to be in. • ■ ■Mr. A. J. White moved that the motion carried at last meetinrr ■ should be rescinded, but -this was Tuled' out of order. _ • Mr. W.H. Field, M.P., expressed himself as being against a plebiscite which he thought would not settle the matter The only way to settle the question was by compromise. ; - •• _ -i/'^Tf are the contl'°Uing body," said Mr. 0. I. Harkness,' "and it is our duty to decide the matter. We have given our 'judgment, and I don't "think that there is anything before us to make us alter our decision." Mr. J. J. Clark said that at present the area of the Kilbirnie district was 227 acres, and that of Hataitai was 175. In order to make them 'equal -it would be necessary to give- Hataitai;26 acres Instead of that the board had decided to give Hataitai 60 or 70' acres, making the areas : Hataitai, 260 acres; Kilbirnie, 142 acres. The proper course, said Mr! Clark, would be to rescind the motion of the previous meeting, and then fix the boundaries as was considered fair and reasonable. ■ . • •. j

The opinion, was expressed by Mr. White that by reducing the area of Kilbirnie,. they would be reducing the grade, of the school. By giving the area to Hataitai they were'making the positionvery tfnfair. . Opinion v was fairly evenly1 divided in the disputed area. He favoured a referendum X Mr R. A. Wright, M.P., said that one of the matters that stood out in connection with the dispute . was the fact that neither of the schools was going to lose any of is children. He was in favour o£ a plebiscite, and -was ,not at all sure that the result would be a foregone conclusion. ' The chairman (Mr. T. Forsyth) said that the question of area did not enter into it at all. The board was the body appointed to deal with ,the. dispute, and should do so as quickly as possible. Voting on'the motion in favour of a plebiscitewwas equal—five votes each way—and the chairman gave his casting vote'against the motion.Mr. Forsyth then moved that, having heard/both parties, the board saw no reason to change its views. • This was seconded aiid carried by six votes to five, after a further vigorous protest had been voiced by Mr. Clark.