Some schools have been told their planned school builds have been delayed or redesigned, while many are still waiting on a Ministry of Education review.
Earlier this year, the ministry revealed it was reviewing 352 projects to get better value for money in the face of rising construction costs.
In a statement, the ministry confirmed it had completed most of the reviews. Some schools had been advised of the outcome but most will start finding out at the end of June.
One of those schools was Rolleston College which was growing fast and has been banking on a new school built in stages.
Principal Rachel Skelton said the last few months has been incredibly frustrating. "On the 29th of February we were called to a meeting and told that stage one of the campus would be scaled back, quite significantly. We were shocked".
Since then, the school has reached a compromise with the ministry, but there's uncertainty around the subsequent phases.
"That's fine but what about stages two and three?... because, in order to be a full school, we need all three stages to be completed."
In last week's Budget, $1.5 billion was allocated for school building maintenance and new buildings over the next four years.
Education Minister Erica Stanford said she was proud of how much has been invested. "A big part of that is into property maintenance $780 odd million and that is more than the last six years combined."
Information from the Ministry of Education showed about 1200 new classrooms were planned, but the budget had funding for 300.
There were 25 new schools or school expansions among the reviewed projects, with the budget allocating funding for up to four.
However, some funding was still available from previous budgets and likely future ones too. "The 352 projects we've got sitting there, some of them are shovel ready, some of them are years away from being shovel ready. So we won't need budget for them for a number of years."
While some projects would be prioritised — others will be deferred. Last year, two new schools for Ōmokoroa were announced as some students have to travel more than two hours daily to school in Tauranga. The land has been bought but the school has recently been told their case was a low priority.
Ōmokoroa local Matt Baker said the community was shocked. "No one really understands the decision — it just defies logic."
"We're still waiting, with an indefinite delay now. That maybe a year, two years or it may be 10 years".
Maitai School in Nelson was the only school at the top of the South Island for students with high and complex needs. It's been waiting almost 10 years for a new campus.
"It's been five years of delays," a spokesperson said. "We've currently got 13 families who don't know where their kids are going to go next year."
"We need the build to be started as soon as possible. It's ready to go, the planning's all done. Even if it started tomorrow we're still not going to be in it next year".
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