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Wellington Girls' College says the Ministry of Education is proposing a building project that is a waste of taxpayers' money.
The school already had a massive shortfall of teaching space before it discovered its biggest classroom block, Brook, with 27 teaching spaces, is rated just 15 percent of new building standard or NBS.
Any building under 34 percent is quake-prone - the risk of dying in such a building in any given year is between a fifth and a half the risk of dying in a car crash.
Brook's two top floors - added in 1994 - are much lighter than the underlying structure, so lack flexibility in a quake.
The ministry is proposing to strengthen Brook block to just 35 percent by early next year as a stopgap measure.
Julia Davidson. Photo: Supplied /
But principal Julia Davidson said the school wanted it pulled down and that it would be more cost-effective to start from scratch.
"As taxpayers, we think it is a waste of money" to go ahead with short-term strengthening, she said on Tuesday.
School staff and whānau were due to meet officials on Tuesday afternoon.
The ministry told Nine-to-Noon on Tuesday that its recommendation that students keep using Brook in the meantime, was different than it evacuating its own Wellington headquarters for seismic reasons two years ago - because each building was different.
That is true: The school block is rated a more important structure than the headquarters. Brook is an Importance Level 3 (IL3) building, versus just IL2 for the office block housing the Ministry of Education. This is due to the Wellington Girls' block having over 300 children in it on a school day.
It must therefore be assessed against a higher standard.
Wellington Girls' College Brook block had two floors added in 1994. Photo: Wellington Girls College
When the ministry moved out of its headquarters, it did so after getting a Targeted Seismic Assessment (TSA), which returned a 25-30 percent NBS rating on crucial parts like floors.
Similarly, it wanted the school to perform only a TSA, as opposed to a full Detailed Seismic Assessment (DSA), saying the latter would take longer, Davidson said.
The school board instead paid for a DSA, which it received last week, triggering yesterday's decision to evacuate students.
Paying for a full DSA had been worth it for peace of mind; staff had been full of questions about which parts of the block were weak, Davidson said.
"It is really reassuring to know everything has been looked at."
The ministry's TSA on the building it evacuated recommended it do a DSA on it, "to ensure that all elements are reviewed and assessed prior to any strengthening design".
