Moerewa School board of trustees sacked

Emotions are expected to run high at a Northland School when a Ministry of Education commissioner comes to take it over today.

The Moerewa School board has been sacked after the Ministry of Education accused it of welcoming back senior students in defiance of an order to shut down a unit for them.

The board denies that, saying yesterday's powhiri was to transition the students to other schools.

Ex-chair Mate Palmer says the school hall was packed with community members last night who are not happy a commissioner is coming in.

"I even had one kaumatua go so far as to say that he will block the entrance to Moerewa School and not allow the commissioner to come into the school grounds."

Mr Palmer says the commissioner is expected some time this afternoon.

Yesterday the school held a powhiri to welcome to term two 17 students in Years 11, 12 and 13.

That's despite an Education Ministry directive to enrol the students elsewhere.

The Ministry says the school is not offering senior students a quality education and its NCEA results are alarmingly low.

An audit by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority downgraded the school's internal assessment marks and found only between 11 to 33 percent of students were passing NCEA.