A Christchurch principal claims the Ministry of Education is threatening to withhold new classrooms if his school doesn’t adopt an enrolment zone.

Rowley School, which teaches Year 1-8 students, is among hundreds of schools across the country being asked to introduce zoning to cope with rapid roll growth.

New Ministry of Education data show 1307 schools have a scheme this year – 136% more than the 552 two decades ago.

In Canterbury and Auckland, the number of schools without zones has dropped by about a third in five years.

Rowley Principal Graeme Norman said the ministry wants a zone because the school’s roll has jumped from 100 students five years ago to about 250 now.

“They say you have to have a zone or you won’t get new buildings for the population growth, so they say that’s not a threat, but to me, that sounds like a threat,” he said.

Ministry of Education acting south leader Andrea Williams said Norman’s claim was incorrect.

Williams said before funding new classrooms, the ministry must first look at non-property solutions to manage or mitigate overcrowding.

“Implementing an enrolment scheme is one such measure,” she said.

“There is significant residential development underway and planned within the proposed enrolment home zone. The ministry will continue to monitor growth in the area to determine when additional classroom capacity may be needed to meet the needs of residents within the home zone.”

Consultation has now closed on the ministry’s proposed zone scheme for Rowley, with feedback being reviewed by the board of trustees.

The zone is proposed to begin from January next year.

Norman said the process felt pointless.

“Even the email from the ministry requesting the meeting was, ‘oh, we need to speed this up because our timeline is very tight’,” he said.

“So that would indicate to me that they still are really focused that they’re going to put a zone in. So why the consultation? Is it just a tick a box?”

Ministry of Education operations and integration leader Sean Teddy said zones prevent overcrowding and guarantee local students a place.

“We analyse and assess the need for enrolment schemes across the motu to help manage overcrowding, ensuring local students can attend schools in their area,” he said.

OneRoof reports some families are paying up to $800,000 for in-demand school zones.

Teddy said there are options for students who do not want to attend the only school they are zoned for.

“They include applying to an out-of-zone school, state integrated school, private school or charter school, or seeking support from the Ministry of Education for a directed enrolment, or exploring alternative education providers like activity centres or home education.”

Norman said while zoning has merit, it shouldn’t limit choice.

“I use the analogy, we have a number of different restaurants, some restaurants I really enjoy going to. Others don’t like that restaurant, but they prefer something else.”

“So we’ve got options, but we take the options away from our children, even though we’re forcing them to go to school.”

Jaime Cunningham is a Christchurch-based reporter with a focus on education, social issues and general news. She joined Newstalk ZB in 2023 after working as a sports reporter at the Christchurch Star.