"Extraordinary" population growth has prompted Catholic schools in Milton, Wanaka and Queenstown to apply to the Ministry of Education to have their roll caps raised by up to 47%
this year.
Catholic Education Office director Tony Hanning said the rolls at Holy Family School (Wanaka), St Marys School (Milton) and St Josephs School (Queenstown) were capped by a deed of agreement between the Crown and the proprietor (the Catholic bishop of the diocese) which declared integrated schools must have a maximum limit to their roll.
However, due to the unexpected level of growth in the areas, and the popularity of their Catholic schools, the growth pattern of the rolls had changed, he said.
Holy Family School had applied to raise its roll cap from 60 pupils to 88 pupils this year - a 47% increase. It was predicted a further increase to 100 pupils would be necessary for 2009, he said.
"The embarrassing part is, we can't provide spaces for any new pupils until the ministry gives approval. The population growth has been extraordinary and demand is high.''
St Marys School in Milton was also experiencing increased demand for enrolments and Mr Hanning believed the situation was linked to the availability of jobs in the area.
"At the moment, people drive down from Dunedin. But we anticipate that as fuel prices increase, people will look to move closer to their place of employment.
"I think that will have an impact on the rolls of schools and other services within the Milton area.''
Mr Hanning said the school added two new classrooms last year and had applied to increase its roll from 90 to 105 pupils this year - a 17% increase. Present demand for places at the school meant it could easily exceed the 90 spaces available later this year.
At St Josephs School in Queenstown, the situation was becoming "critical'', Mr Hanning said.
The roll was capped at 160 in 2002 and the Catholic Education Office initially applied for the roll to be raised to 180 in 2006. However, the adjustment was not approved and the school was now experiencing some pressure, he said.
"It's now getting quite critical and the application needs to be processed.''
Mr Hanning said the roll cap adjustment was not approved because the Ministry of Education had an area strategy designed to manage population growth in the Wakatipu Basin.
Consultation on the strategy was still taking place, hence the delay.
Additional property had been bought in the past two years to enable growth to take place, and, given the rapid population growth, the school was now applying for a roll cap of 200 - a 25% increase.
Mr Hanning hoped the raising of the schools' roll caps would help to take pressure off some of the state schools in Wanaka, Queenstown and Milton which were also struggling with the increase in population.
Ministry of Education Otago and Southland regional manager Kathryn Palmer said it could be months before a decision was made to approve the applications of Holy Family and St Marys Schools..
"The first step is for schools to make an application for a change to their maximum roll, then the Ministry of Education is required to consult with other affected schools about the proposal, and then prepare a report to the minister. The Minister of Education will make the final decision.''
Ms Palmer said the application for change for St Josephs would continue "on hold'' until the outcome of the Wakatipu area strategy consultation about future planning was completed.
