A Whakatāne primary school has left parents blindsided after sending children home with a letter informing them the school's bilingual unit, Te Whānau o Awatope, is set to close.
The board has proposed an alternative solution to ensure children can access te reo Māori in a mainstream setting.
It comes at a time when the use of te reo is coming under scrutiny by the new government.
"There was a Facebook post saying, 'whānau! There's a letter in your kid's bags; have a look," said school mum Jessica Mules.
"I was blindsided and quite shocked because there was no communication before that."
Her son is among about 45 students enrolled in the unit, where lessons are taught in te reo Māori up to 50% of the time.
"He is just shocked, same as me, pretty blindsided by it, because he had no idea, nobody did."
School Principal Simon Akroyd told 1News he shared the sadness of whānau but that the decision needed to be made because the school hadn't been able to fill two teacher vacancies.
"We have been trying to recruit staff with the required skill set for teaching in Te Whānau o Awatope (level 3 immersion) since a vacancy occurred 18 months ago, and a further vacancy has occurred recently as one of our Kaiako is moving to teach in kura kaupapa next year," he said.
"This is not a situation that is unique to Apanui School, and we’re aware of at least five other schools that are in the same situation and are having to adapt their offering."
He admitted changes could have been better communicated.
"We have expressed our apologies to those impacted," he said.
School mum Vanessa Marjoribanks said lower academic achievement levels were another reason given.
"Honestly, I think it's ill-conceived. There's an assumption that if they separate some of the children out to mainstream units, it will uplift academic outcomes, but they don't seem to have given any value to them being in the bilingual unit, the connection of te reo, tikanga and culture."
The school instead aims to teach all children te reo Māori three hours a week and introduce a new programme for 25 students who will have access to te reo Māori and will be able to explore elements of te ao Māori every afternoon and all day on Fridays.
"Apanui School’s strategic focus is on creating a whole school environment that is mana-enhancing and where every student feels that they can belong. This includes a focus on raising the whole school to teach at a minimum of level 4B immersion and involves whole school kapa haka, the use of a paetapu and normalising the use of Te Reo Māori in all classes," said School Principal Simon Akroyd.
School mum Hannah Simmonds said she wasn't opposed to the strategy but wanted it to exist in addition to the bilingual unit.
"I think the proposed strategy is a great one for the mainstream part of the school. I believe, however, that it's diluting what our kids currently have. It's taking a step backwards in terms of their reo, identity and culture."
Parents also say it's adding to existing anxiety.
"I think it poor timing on behalf of the school to make this decision," said Vanessa Marjoribanks.
"I worry about the wider implications of the messaging. We, as Māori, are under threat of having te reo removed from government departments."
Hannah Simmonds agreed.
"Even though it might not have been the intention for the school to be like that, that is how it has landed. As iwi Māori, we are fighting on multiple fronts for multiple things. So the impact of this decision has added to our feelings of fear."
Parents will meet with the board on Tuesday in a last attempt to save the unit from closure.
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