The Secondary Principals' Association says there have been longstanding issues which were now "horribly acute". (file picture). Photo: Rototuna Junior High School
The head of the Secondary Principals' Association is welcoming a review of school property management, saying the current system is not fit for purpose.
The government announced the review on Monday, with Minister of Education Erica Stanford saying that on around 350 projects the scope is unrealistic or unaffordable.
Secondary Principals' Association president Vaughan Couillault told Nine to Noon there had been systemic issues in the property area for decades and long-standing issues with school properties had become "horribly acute".
The current system was not fit for purpose, and needed a shake up, he said.
"It's rife, it's systemic. What we've got for some reason, irrespective of whether you think the people making these decisions are good bad or indifferent, we have a systemic failure where the planning isn't right in terms of roll growth or need in a particular area. And the delivery doesn't work either."
He said catering to roll growth was a key issue.
Couillault said when a decision was made to open up immigration that inevitably means more children turning up at school.
"Those kids are here today, and an 18 month delay for a classroom to put them in is a third of their secondary school journey - it's just not good enough."
Auckland Primary Principals' Association president Kyle Brewerton said primary schools were facing the same issues with school property.
Brewerton said the costs for bespoke school builds had got out of hand.
"If you had a selection of say 12 types of generic blocks, that we know work well, that are tried and tested in schools. We say right here is your site, pick up one of these designs. Most of the work is done in terms of the design, the engineering, the fire reports are all done, and now it is just a matter of adapting it to fit your site. Job done. We can save squillions doing those sort of things, working smarter. And we're just not seeing it."
He said issues had been around for years, but had become more pronounced with the introduction of Tomorrow's Schools and boards of trustees.
