Kaikoura schools prepare to re-open

<h4 id&equals;"page-title">Post-earthquake inspections of schools in the Kaikoura district have revealed most to be in good shape&comma; and some may even re-open this week&comma; according to the Ministry of Education&period;<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"intro" style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Acting education secretary Katrina Casey said it was up to each school to decide when to reopen&comma; but that engineering checks following last Monday&&num;8217&semi;s 7&period;8 earthquake had found most schools to be in relatively good shape&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"intro" style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Two of our staff flew in&comma; along with with two consultant structural engineers&period; We’ve inspected all six schools and found they are generally in good shape&period; Those schools are Kaikoura Primary School&comma; St Joseph’s School&comma; Kaikoura High School&comma; Kaikoura Suburban School&comma; Hapuku School and Lynton Downs School&period; They should be safe to use again once power&comma; sewage and water supply issues are addressed&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"intro" style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Approximately 470 students attend schools in Kaikoura&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;A generator is being sourced for Kaikoura Suburban School while we co-ordinate with the local marae and other agencies to provide other support to the school community&period; We are working with the schools in Kaikoura to enable them to reopen as soon as possible&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We understand staff and students may still be feeling the adverse effects of the earthquake and the aftershocks&comma; so we remain ready to provide advice and support wherever we can&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;