Kaitangata School principal Janelle Shaw, new to the role this year, said the first the school heard of the loss of the dental service was in an email sent on December 18 last year.
Ms Shaw said former principal Anneta Payne had told her the email, which announced the region’s mobile school dental service would no longer be visiting Kaitangata and its 97 pupils, had arrived out of the blue.
"As I understand it, there was no consultation with the school or community about this sudden and potentially very serious change, which has been framed by [Health New Zealand] Te Whatu Ora as an improvement, and a ‘benefit’ to our tamariki.
"Prior to this, the visiting service ensured dental treatment for all our children was equitable and universal.
"The change will mean some families now simply can’t or won’t attend appointments due to the time and financial cost involved.
"We believe this is short-sighted from the ministry, as it disadvantages some of those who benefit most from the current service, and will only lead to longer-term oral and related health problems in our community."
She said community condemnation of the ministry’s move was unanimous.
Among those adding their voice is another of the school’s former principals, Joyce Beck.
Mrs Beck said the school community had fought "tooth and nail" to establish the visiting service during her time as principal, eventually succeeding in 2010.
She had "grave" concerns about the unexpected change.
"Because we’re a small rural town, a majority of our parents work out of town.
"This means, at the very least, a 50km-plus drive to come from work, pick up children from school, drive to the appointment, wait, then drive them back to school and return to work again.
"Inevitably, some parents can’t afford to take the time and expense off work to do this, and the children will suffer. I just don’t think the ministry has thought it through."
HNZ Southern group director operations Craig Ashton said the decision was not driven by funding, but by "staffing constraints".
"Adjustments like this occur from time to time at various sites as staffing levels fluctuate. To ensure we can continue delivering a consistent and sustainable service, we have temporarily withdrawn some mobile services so we can maintain our fixed-clinic operations. This approach allows us to provide equitable access for the wider community from a central clinic."
He said HNZ would liaise with families to co-ordinate workable appointment times.
