$11 million to redevelop two Central Otago schools

Maniototo Area School in Ranfurly and Lawrence Area School will be redeveloped at a combined cost of around $11 million, says Associate Education Minister Tim Macindoe.

“Both of these schools have buildings which are generally in poor condition and affected by issues such as weathertightness,” says Mr Macindoe.

Around $7 million will be invested into Maniototo Area School to replace the majority of teaching spaces. The remaining $4 million will be invested in replacing, repairing and modernising existing teaching spaces at Lawrence Area School.

Mr Macindoe says these two Central Otago Area Schools are important centres in their respective communities and, as a result, providing access to high quality learning environments will help to achieve the best possible outcomes not only for the pupils of these two schools but also for the wider Lawrence and Ranfurly communities.

“This $11 million investment comes on top of $37 million announced for new classrooms and school redevelopments in the Otago-Southland region last year,” says Mr Macindoe.

“This project is part of ongoing work across New Zealand to upgrade and expand our schools. 

“Overall, this Government has invested more in school infrastructure than any previous Government, with over $5 billion committed to address legacy issues such as old, leaky buildings; provide extra capacity to address roll growth pressures within existing schools; and build brand new schools.”

The Ministry of Education and the schools will work closely together over the next two years to develop plans for the new facilities.

Construction work on the site is expected to commence in mid-2019.