Where Mid Canterbury students attend secondary school in the future will be determined by clearly defined zones.

Mount Hutt College already has a zone in place and Ashburton College is now in the process of establishing its own zone that will come into play when the school roll hits 1350.

Currently there are a number of students who are travelling to schools that are outside what are likely to be the new zone boundaries and that can continue until the roll cap at either school is reached, Ashburton College principal Ross Preece said.

In drawing proposed zone boundaries, he said the college had worked as near as possible to natural district boundaries – the Rakaia and Rangitata rivers with the existing Mount Hutt College zone boundary used in the west.

The college had also requested the MInistry of Education take the zone as close as possible to the school’s transport entitlement zone, Preece said.

In the draft there were minor changes in two areas along the Rangitata River, with a sliver of land towards the coast now becoming part of the college zone and another around Carew-Peel Forest School that would be within the Geraldine High zone.

The zone will also include an area in Rakaia that is part of the Ellesmere College zone

The college’s roll is at 1200, with students from across the district attending.

This could continue until the 1350 cap was reached and that was likely to be around 2022, Preece said.

“That’s where the rubber will meet the road as we can currently take all students, but there’s no great sense of panic. Over the next few years we can still take anyone who wants to attend the college.”

Establishing a zone made sense, he said, and a roll cap made it easier to plan longer term.

A bubble in Year 8 student numbers would boost the roll next year, but Year 7 had smaller numbers and that again would impact on the college roll.

Those factors, combined with the mobility of families for work reasons, made it difficult to know exactly when zone rules would be enacted, he said.

The zone, however, will be in place by the end of this year.

All contributing schools will be contacted as part of the consultation process and information is available on the college website and hard copy maps are available at the college office.

By Sue Newman © The Ashburton Guardian - 13 July 2019