Burnside High School Photo: RNZ / Anna Sargent
One of the country's largest schools, Burnside High School in Christchurch, has closed its administration block because it was found to be an earthquake risk.
A seismic assessment showed the block was at 15 percent of the New Build Standard (NBS), below the minimum earthquake rating of 34 percent.
In March, two classroom blocks - blocks I and J - at the school were closed after they were found to be earthquake-vulnerable.
Students' year groups had to take turns learning from home due to a lack of classroom space.
Burnside High School board chair Chris Dann said this closure, from Wednesday, would not impact student timetables or classrooms.
He said Thursday was a designated staff only day, and this gave the school an opportunity to commence the move out of the administration block and into other spaces.
"We'll continue to keep school whānau and our community informed as repair and replacement work progresses. The message that we've delivered to our staff is to acknowlegde the disruption the decision will cause to them, and to thank them for their patience and resilience," Dann said.
"Engineers are currently evaluating what work needs to take place to bring the building up to at least 34 percent NBS and what interim strengthening works can be prioritised to enable the administration building to be safe to be reoccupied. We will have further information from the Ministry of Education on this at the end of the month."
A seismic assessment was also underaken of the school's library block, which showed a rating of 50 percent NBS.
Dann said blocks I and J were in the process of being demolished, and the school hoped to have 14 new classrooms by July 2026.
Burnside High School principal Scott Haines said in June the school opened Pukehinau - a new 24-classroom teaching block, which included specialist classrooms for hard materials, digital technology and science subjects.
"Previous seismic assessments carried out after the Canterbury earthquakes have not identified any cause for concern regarding other campus buildings. Nevertheless, the ministry has assured the board that it has engaged engineers to carry out a review of those previous seismic assessments and assess whether further investigations are required," he said.
Haines said the Aurora Centre for Performing Arts was the only building on campus the ministry did not own, and the school commissioned a detailed seismic assessment which showed it not to be earthquake prone.
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