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Mudlarks get dirty P4
Schools boost economy by $29m BY DAISY HUDSON
DAISY.H@THEGUARDIAN.CO.NZ
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The Mid Canterbury economy received a $29 million boost thanks to local schools last year. As school rolls in the district have continued to surge, so too has the amount of money put back into the economy through staff salaries and building contracts. School rolls have been increasing at a startling rate, and that growth is set to continue for the foreseeable future. As a result, schools have been scrambling to adjust to growing demand on their resources by building new classrooms and hiring more staff. Increasing staffing levels has in turn added millions of extra dollars into the local economy. Figures released by the Ministry of Education show the amount Mid Canterbury state and state integrated schools have paid out in staff salaries each year has increased by nearly $5 million since 2009.
In 2014 $28,923,008 was paid in school salaries, while over $7 million has already been paid out this year. Not surprisingly, the district’s largest school also pays the most in staff salaries. Ashburton College paid over $7 million to staff last year in salaries but principal Grant McMillan says the school’s contribution to the economy goes further than just paying staff. He believed up to a further $1 million was put back into the local economy through the school’s operations budget. That budget covers a range of expenses, from power to stationary. Mr McMillan said schools also indirectly contributed financially to the district, such as wages paid to school bus staff by their employers. The building boom in the district’s schools has also been positive for local builders and contractors. Bradford’s building general manager Mark Wilson said he had seen
an increase in the number of tenders coming out through the Ministry of Education for new classrooms and modern learning environments. “There has been an increase on that side of it,” he said. “Whereas about a year ago there was a very, very small amount of work on the radar coming out of schools.” He believed all of those tenders would likely go to local companies. “The local economy is succeeding from that work coming through, which is good,” he said. Mid Canterbury Principals’ Association president Chris Murphy said the education sector’s financial contribution to the economy showed just how important it is to Mid Canterbury. “It’s not just in the physical act of education, but in the way it contributes to many facets of our community,” he said. “There are spin-offs in just about every single area.”
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