Steve McCracken: Secondary Principals' Council Chair on Hillmorton High School closing for two days after rats chewed through a fibre cable
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What caused Hillmorton High School to close for two days?
So how about Hillmorton High, eh? Christchurch, they're doing the remote learning at the moment after the rats chewed through the core fibre cable, taking out the internet and the phones and the CCTV. Steve McCracken is the Secondary Principal's Council Chair and is with us. Steve, morning to you. Good morning, Mike. Have you experienced this before?
No, not personally. And first I've heard of it in terms of rodents chewing through fibre cables.
Well, I was going to say, so this is not a case of every school in the country has got far too many rodents and rats and we need to do something about it. This might just be a one-off.
Yeah, we're really hopeful. I mean, in terms of the actual pests, I'm sure schools have adequate pest control. But yeah, I mean, this is a bit of a rarity, isn't it, in terms of schools having to close and things. It's not something that school leaders want to do.
Well, I was going to ask you about that.
How do schools manage pest control and infrastructure maintenance?
Do schools get maintained or are we in that difficult area of, you know, I've got more money to buy chalk and blackboards and stuff and I don't have time for the rats anymore?
Yeah, it's a very fine balance. So we get funding from the Ministry of Education to maintain our property and buildings and things, but that doesn't meet the ongoing needs. And, I mean, recently you've heard Minister Sanford... displaying and providing some resource for things like solar panels and that, that can offset some other costs and go back into property maintenance and things.
How does the cost of living crisis affect school maintenance?
So it's an ongoing concern in terms of maintaining the property and sometimes really aging infrastructure.
I have no technical expertise at all, but does a school, in having a core fiber cable, a singular thing a rat can eat, and knocking you out, strike you as something that's not quite as comprehensive as it should be, technically speaking?
Yeah, I'm not a technical expert as well, but it does seem rather bizarre, doesn't it? When you've got, I think in their case, they've got 1,500 students coming on site every day, they've got to maintain... That health and safety aspect and running things like CCTV and phones and things is pretty crucial to infrastructure.
What are the health and safety concerns related to school infrastructure?
And that's the same in any school, right, when you've got a large number of people coming on site in any one day. So to have it like that is a bit bizarre, but I'm sympathetic with the school and not something that school leaders want to do in terms of closing schools.
No, quite right. Good to talk to you, Steve. Appreciate it.
What are the implications of a single fibre cable failure in schools?
Steve McCracken, Secondary Principal's Chair. Having said that, I know what the bill is at our place for road and control in the country, and Scott's a genius. But it ain't cheap.
And in, I don't know if you've heard, but we're in a cost of living crisis.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What caused Hillmorton High School to close for two days?
0:00–0:43
2
How do schools manage pest control and infrastructure maintenance?
0:43–1:17
3
How does the cost of living crisis affect school maintenance?
1:17–1:57
4
What are the health and safety concerns related to school infrastructure?
1:57–2:11
5
What are the implications of a single fibre cable failure in schools?
2:11–2:33
Speakers
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