'Slum-like' school to close down

The south Auckland school shut down today had kept at-risk children in filthy "slum- like" buildings with no heating.

Education Minister Anne Tolley announced this morning that Felix Donnelly College is being shut down because of governance and management concerns. It  would close on 27 January 2011.

"Following consultation last year I am satisfied that the complex needs of the students are not being met at the school and that it should close," Tolley said.

The special school, which has a lengthy history of serious management and governance issues, has had a Commissioner in place since early 2007.

It currently provides education for 35 young people with a range of social, learning and behavioural problems which cannot be catered for in a mainstream school. Many of these children are in the care of Child, Youth and Family.

''A new state school will open in 2012 on the former Waimokoia School site to provide the specialist care and education that these children deserve.  Each student would be assessed for their behavioural and social needs when they entered the school, and individual learning programmes would then be developed, with regular evaluations on how each student was progressing, she said.

Following the closure of Felix Donnelly College, current students and those who may be enrolled through CYF next year will be provided with education through a private provider until the new school opens.

It was revealed last year education officials had sent at-risk children to the school in filthy "slum-like" buildings with no heating, hot water or smoke alarms - and left them there for years despite damning Education Review Office reports and repeated pleas for action from staff.

Dormitories used by another 14 children at the same school were so dilapidated they were shut down in October 2008, and the children had to move into their classrooms. Child Youth and Family (CYF) shares responsibility for the children with the Ministry of Education.

Felix Donnelly College (FDC), is a special state school in South Auckland for children in CYF care. Some are on Youth Justice programmes or have behaviour problems.

The ministry is responsible for the children's education and learning environment and released documents about the school's buildings to the Sunday Star-Times, following an Official Information Act request last year.

The documents revealed auditors found serious health and safety problems.

Former principal Therese Ireland, who campaigned for the children to be moved, said: "There's no way that any parent in New Zealand would suggest that it's OK to send their children to a school like that . . . People knew and no one did anything."

Ireland said the children were the country's most vulnerable and damaged, and deserved the very best educational facilities. "They have no voice."

ERO inspected the Tuakau site, an old Catholic seminary leased to the ministry by a trust, in July and August 2006. The report said: "The dilapidated nature of the buildings, the necessity to lock some parts off entirely because they are structurally unsound, and the inadequate provision for specialist teaching, such as art and science, make the Tuakau property a poor site for the education of students."

Two years later Ireland arrived at the school and demanded that the 16-18 children still using those buildings be shifted. In emails sent to the ministry in May, June and July 2008, she said she was morally distressed by the "slum-like" conditions which sent "a clear message of hopelessness". She warned media attention could be "a huge embarrassment" to the ministry.

Ireland also emailed former Education Minister Chris Carter and Secretary for Education Karen Sewell, attaching 44 photographs showing crumbling asbestos in the ceilings, graffiti, broken windows, a faeces-smeared toilet, broken furniture, and rubbish bags piled in the kitchen.

"I have grave concerns about the welfare, health and safety of both staff and students, " Ireland wrote. "Our children and teachers can no longer be expected to work in these Dickensian conditions."

Sewell replied saying the pictures were "of concern" and officials were working to resolve problems.

School commissioner Ross Wilson sent independent auditors to visit Tuakau in July and their damning report on August 3 recommended the two-storey teaching block, the principal's office and dining room be vacated immediately.