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F. Darren
[FYI request #34062 email]
14 April 2026
Tēnā koe Mr Darren
OIA: GEMS-47238 – Discontinued school bus routes and rural school closures
Thank you for your email of 13 March 2026 to the Ministry of Education (the Ministry)
requesting the following information
relating to school transport and rural school
closures over the past 20 years:
1. School bus routes discontinued
A list of school bus routes that have been discontinued or withdrawn between
1 January 2005 and the present, including where available:
•
The name or identifier of the route
•
The school or schools the route serviced
•
The date the route was discontinued
•
The reason for discontinuation, if recorded
2. Rural school closures
A list of state and state-integrated rural schools that have closed between 1
January 2005 and the present, including:
•
The school name
•
The location
•
The date of closure
If the Ministry uses a particular classification for “rural schools”, please apply
that definition. If not, please provide the full list of school closures and any
available location or urban/rural classification.
3. Existing analysis or advice
Any reports, briefings, or analysis produced by the Ministry in the past 20
years that examine or reference a relationship between:
•
school transport availability or bus route changes, and
•
school roll decline or school closures.
Wellington – National Office, PO Box 1666, Wellington 6140
Phone: +64 4 463 8000
education.govt.nz
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If any of this information is already publicly available, I would appreciate a link
to the relevant source.
Your request has been considered under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act).
The Ministry needs to extend the timeframe for responding to your request, pursuant
to section 15A(1)(a) of the Act, as the request is for a large quantity of information or
necessitates a search through a large quantity of information, and meeting the
original time limit would unreasonably interfere
with the operations of the Ministry.
You can now expect to receive a response to your request on or before 20 May
2026, which is an extension of 25 working days. This response date takes into
account Anzac Day (27 April 2026).
You have the right to ask an Ombudsman to review my decision on your request, in
accordance with section 28 of the Act. You can do this by writing to
[email address] or to Office of the Ombudsman, PO Box 10152,
Wellington 6143.
Nāku noa, nā
Tess Firth
Senior Advisor Ministerial Services
Te Pou Rangatōpū | Corporate
education.govt.nz
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OIA: GEMS-47238
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