Education Minister Hekia Parata has decided not to appeal against a High Court ruling that her decision to close Phillipstown School in Christchurch was illegal.
Hekia Parata. Photo: NATIONAL PARTY
In October this year, the High Court ruled that Ms Parata's decision to close the school and merge it with Woolston School in 2014 was unlawful, due to her failure to properly consult with it on certain aspects.
On Friday, Ms Parata announced she would not appeal against the decision.
She says consultation will resume with Phillipstown and Woolston in the next three to four weeks and the schools will have until the middle of February to respond.
The minister is adamant that consultation will not start again from scratch, and that the schools will only be consulted again on the areas the High Court had problems with.
But Phillipstown's lawyer Mai Chen says that is not good enough, and the process should start again from scratch if it is going to reflect the current state of the school and its community.
Ms Chen says giving the school until mid-February for consultation to take place is nowhere near enough time.
