Stagnant rolls, stagnant population: Two Wellington Catholic schools closing
Monday, 19 May 2025
Challenging finances and a “stagnant” population are being blamed for the closure of two Wellington Catholic primary schools - but the city’s deputy mayor wonders if other things are at play.
Letters to Wellington Central MP Tamatha Paul from Education Minister Erica Stanford confirm that St Bernard’s School in Brooklyn and Cardinal McKeefry in Northland have both opted out of their state integration with the Government and will close after the end of the school year. Both are Catholic state integrated primary schools.
State integrated schools are former private schools with a “special character” – usually religious – that have been brought partially under the state system with buildings owned by the proprietor but with government funding for operations and maintenance.
Stanford’s letter said, in each instance, students would be moved to neighbouring schools.
The Catholic Archdiocese of Wellington in late-2024 announced it was considering closing the schools due to “growing financial pressures in maintaining the schools and stagnant population growth in the capital”. St Bernard’s had 47 students last July after five years of no growth while Cardinal McKeefry had 54 having dropped from 83 in 2020.
At Ōtari School, down the road from Cardinal McKeefry, principal Clifford Wicks said his school could only accommodate students within its zone. He expected to take two or three Cardinal McKeefry students in 2026.
Other nearby schools – Brooklyn and Northland – could not be contacted on Sunday to confirm if they had capacity for the extra students.
“I am sorry to hear these schools are having to close,” said Paekawakawa/Southern ward councillor Laurie Foon. “I am sure they have been a valued part of their communities,” .
Foon, also Wellington’s deputy mayor, said some nearby state co-ed schools such as South Wellington Intermediate, Ridgeway and Berhampore needed to build new classrooms to keep up with demand.
“So perhaps the demand is that whanau are moving toward integrating with their communities more,” Foon said.
Wharangi/Onslow-Western councillor Diane Calvert, who has Cardinal McKeefry in her ward, said it reflected that the Wellington City Council was investing in infrastructure based on predicted population growth, which was not happening. The last census showed Wellington’s population dropped by 48 people between 2018 and 2023. It was the only city to drop in numbers.
Rebecca Matthews, also a ward councillor, said the city needed better housing choices so older people could downsize and make family homes more affordable for young families.
“[The council] is doing its bit but we need everyone to keep the focus on housing for thriving communities and schools.”
Ray Chung, the remaining Wharangi councillor, understood Cardinal McKeefry was a victim of a dwindling school-aged population and people opting away from Catholic schools. He had been told some of the dropping roll was due to families leaving Wellington.
“We are not getting enough people, we are not getting enough families,” he said.
Paul said it was always sad to see schools closing.
“I hope this decision will not be too much of an inconvenience for the communities immediately around the school. The cost of living in Wellington is holding us back from having a healthy, growing population which is why I’m always pushing for more housing. It doesn’t help that thousands of jobs have been cut leading people to move out of our city.”