Rubbish outside Tīnui School in Wairarapa after firefighters hosed silt from classrooms and the field. Photo: RNZ/ Phil Pennington
Nearly 400 schools across the North Island have reported cyclone and flood damage, with five in Hawkes Bay and Tai Rāwhiti hit so hard they can't open on site.
After repeated setbacks in accessing sites hit by flooding in Cyclone Gabrielle, the scale of damage is finally becoming clear.
Ministry of Education head of property Sam Fowler said it would work with the five schools unable to open on whether repair or rebuilding was the right solution.
The ministry was supporting them with distance learning or by accommodating students at other sites.
Nationally, 24 schools were closed on Tuesday but only a small number due to property damage.
"Much of the others will be as a result of access, staffing, and also local weather events that were anticipated yesterday," Fowler said.
Repair was generally the right solution for schools hit by the Auckland flooding or the cyclone, he said.
Often buildings themselves were relatively undamaged, but underground infrastructure, fences and trees were hard hit.
School principal Simon Couling, in a classroom which was hosed out by firefighters following flooding in Tīnui, near the Wairarapa coast, during Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo: RNZ/ Phil Pennington
The ministry had made $12,000 available for each school for immediate repairs, and a full assessment of the funding needed would be made in coming weeks.
Listen to Ministry of Education head of property Sam Fowler