The principal of Christchurch's Phillipstown School says the Minister of Education must take into consideration a population increase in his school's area when consultation resumes on whether it should stay open.
The High Court ruled last month that the minister's decision to close the school and merge it with Woolston School was illegal because she failed to consult properly.
Education Minister Hekia Parata has now decided to pick up where she left off in consulting the school, but only on the matters in dispute.
She says consultation will resume in the next three to four weeks and both schools will have until the middle of February to respond.
Phillipstown principal Tony Simpson says much has changed in the area the school serves since the original consultation period, and those factors must be considered anew.
He says the changes include an 8% increase in the area's population.
Mr Simpson says the fact the school has been saved means the rush is now on to organise opening it again for the 2014 school year.
