FREQUENTLY
ASKED QUESTIONS
Developed after Community Consultation in 2007
1. Does the
current government funding fully cover the RRS operational expenses? How is the shortfall being met?
No, and it never has. The shortfall is made up by fundraising.
2. If there
is a shortfall, how does this impact on the delivery of the
curriculum? As the school has regularly
balanced its budget, in recent years at least, there is effectively no
shortfall.
3. If there
is a shortfall, how does this affect class sizes?
Class sizes follow MoE
guidelines on 1:23 (1:18 from T2 2008), 1:26 and 1:29 ratios according to
Year. If a
class falls below this ratio the BOT has to fund a proportion of the teacher.
4. What
would be required to enable a cap on class
sizes?
The BOT could in theory
determine a policy on class maxima, as long as they were above those ratios,
but it is questionable if it would be practical.
5. RRS has
been "up-graded" to Decile 8. What impact has this had on the funding
RRS receives from the government?
A drop of $40,000. There will be a further drop of $5,000 should we move to Decile 9.
6. What
difference, if any, is there between the government funding RRS receives for
in-zone and out-of-zone pupils?
RRS receives no funding
apart from teaching salaries for out-of-zone pupils.
7. What, if
any, additional government funding does RRS receive toward the operation of the
bilingual
units?
The teaching of all units
is funded more or less equally. (Te Whanau
Whariki receives more generous funding than the other three units.) The entire property funding is based only on the number of in-zone
pupils, irrespective of unit.
8. How are
the pre-schools funded? Are they
subsidised by RRS?
No, the pre-schools are
independent of RRS.
9. Are some
donations being made that are specifically tagged for any individual unit?No.
10. Schools
can't compel families to pay fees (they are technically "donations")
– does the same apply to out-of-zone families?
Yes, there is no
difference.
11. What
conditions can the school place on accepting out-of-zone students?
Any conditions the BOT sees
fit that meet the charter and goals of the school.
12. What is
the roll forecast for the next 5 years? What differences, if any, are expected across the
units?
Too early in the life of
this BOT to determine. We are
still discussing our strategic objectives and they will surely impact on the
future roll.
13. Are the
operational costs of having 4 bilingual units higher than having a more
homogenous school population?
Yes; it’s a bit like
running four small schools in one building.
14. What are
the benefits to Kiwi Connection pupils of the bilingual
units? Meeting the school’s
charter obligations; survival; bilingualism in Kiwi Connection is one of our
main strategic focuses
