4 Jun 2015

School buildings 'leaky and dank'

11:40 pm on 4 June 2015

Bay of Islands College says some of its school buildings are unsafe to work in because they are in a dilapidated condition, following similar complaints from Northland College.

Bay of Islands College has 373 students of which 85 percent are Māori.

Its principal, John Paitai, said the buildings were well past their use-by date.

"They are leaky, they are dank, they have got mould and they have been tested to death with people coming up to read the spore counts within the rooms."

He said the school desperately needed a new gym and tech block.

"The one we have got was built in the 1940s and it is way past its use-by date. It is leaking and there are holes in the floor, and then we have a gymnasium that parts of it have been condemned and we are not allowed to have students in."

Mr Paitai said some of the school buildings needed to be knocked over with a bulldozer because they are beyond being patched-up.

He said delays in getting new buildings were very frustrating.

"The glacial speed that things happen is totally frustrating, but we just soldier on."

Mr Paitai said poor facilities deterred students from coming to the school, and any decrease in roll numbers meant a drop in operation funding.

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