Although only 15 people attended a community hui yesterday to discuss moving Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Otepoti from Fairfield to the former High Street School premises in Dunedin, their response was a resounding yes.
The consultation meeting drew parents, prospective parents and other people from the Mornington community.
While some said they would support whatever the kura's board of trustees decided, most supported the kura's moving to High St.
One parent supported the move because she lived in Port Chalmers, and Fairfield was a long way to take the children to school.
She believed the move would make the Maori school community stronger because it would be less isolated.
"We've got nothing to lose and everything to gain by moving. It will be a rebirth, of sorts," she said.
A former High Street School pupil said he, his former schoolmates, and his parents who had also attended High Street School were upset when it closed down.
They, along with other members of the Mornington community, would welcome the kura because the school would be going to waste if it was not occupied.
Others said the move to High St would allow the kura to create closer relationships with Araiteuru marae in Kaikorai Valley, the University of Otago, and other schools in the city.
Principal Amiria Stirling was delighted with the response from the community.
She said the information collated at the hui would be considered by the kura's board, and a decision on the school's future was expected by the end of May.
