The Ministry Of Education Says The Contract With An American Carpet Company Is Signed And There Is No Turning Back

The Ministry of Education says the contract with an American carpet company is signed and there is no turning back meaning American synthetic carpet will be laid at 800 rural and remote schools upsetting the wool industry. But New Zealand Rural Schools Leadership Association president Andrew King says some schools will refuse to have the carpet installed. He says there are a few boards who don’t want it in their schools and see it as part of their role to support the rural communities that they serve. Poolburn Primary principal Melissa Gare says while it would be ideal if we could have wool carpet at the end of the day cost comes into play and issues such as carpet are a bit trickier. She says all schools receive property maintenance funds from the ministry but that wouldn’t come close to what it would cost to fit out all of our classrooms in wool carpet. It would need to be community-raised money, and is that effort better spent on learning resources or staffing.