2 Mar 2015

$50,000 principal allowance defended

9:57 am on 2 March 2015

A Christchurch school that hasn't opened yet is defending a $50,000 grant from the Government to help recruit a principal.

The Education Ministry is allocating $50,000 to five schools around the country in need of new principals.

One is Aranui Community Campus, which will roll four schools into one when it opens in 2017.

The chair of its board of trustees Haneta Pierce said the money would be a big help.

"Student achievement isn't as great as it could be for a lot of the students in those four schools that are closing.

"We know that it is going to be a challenging time for the first two years transition period, so we need to have the very best principal we can get."

Ms Pierce said the money would go towards the new principal's pay packet and the recruitment process.