School may sue govt for special needs funds

Riwaka School is considering legal action against the Ministry of Education over what it sees as underfunding of services for its special needs students.

The school claims it spent $15,000 on salaries for teacher aids out of its operations budget this year to cover a shortfall in funds provided by the Education Ministry's Group Special Education.

Riwaka School principal Chris Sutton said the issue was about equity and human rights and ensuring all students had access to a high level of education.

"Special needs are a joke.

"Some of these students are very academic and will be able to pay taxes," Mrs Sutton said. Riwaka School has seven students with a variety of physical and mental disabilities from a total school roll of 218.

"We take our responsibilities seriously and in no way do we want these students to be affected."

The school employed 10 teacher aids who adapted the school programme to ensure special needs students had full access to the curriculum. Schools receive funding for students identified as having high or very high special needs.

In 2006, Riwaka School received $65,064 in teacher aid funding from GSE, and spent $85,436.

Of the $20,352 it cost the school, around $15,000 was spent on salaries and the rest went towards costs such as transport, school camps and swimming togs for the teacher aids.

"We're not prepared to continue in deficit."

Mrs Sutton said in four years the school had spent over $60,000 topping up the salaries of the teacher aids as funds provided by GSE did not cover all of it.

She said she had no problem using some of her school's operations grant towards the services, but felt the school was at a disadvantage when compared with schools which had no special needs students.

The school had hired lawyers to investigate the best way to tackle the issue after years of negotiation with the ministry.

Mrs Sutton said she wanted to take the ministry to court as the school was running out of options.

The Ministry of Education said it was aware of Riwaka School's requests for extra funding for special needs, but said it would be difficult to provide different rates of funding for different schools.

"The ministry has previously advised the school that teacher aid funding should be regarded as a contribution to the overall costs of special education - schools are expected to manage their funding requirements as appropriate for all students."

George Gibbs, a member and support person for the New Zealand Educational Institute, the primary teachers' union, said funding for special needs students had been a problem for a number of years.

"It's a constant headache for schools."

Mr Gibbs, a teacher at Birchwood School, said the union had discussed the issue with the current Government and previous National government without it being resolved.

- © Fairfax NZ News