Annulment of enrolment

Once attendance has commenced, Section 11O provides for the annulment of enrolment if the board has reasonable grounds for believing that, at the time of application, the parents provided false information or deliberately used a temporary address in an attempt to unfairly gain priority in enrolment.

Reasons for annulment fall into two categories.

Supplying false information

Annulment is via Section 11O(1) for the following reasons:

1. although at the time of application the student had an address in the priority area (if such an area is designated in the scheme), the student had moved to an address outside the area at some time after attendance commenced; or
2. the student had never genuinely lived at the address in the priority area, which was given at the time of application; or
3. new evidence has come to light which suggests that the student is not, in fact, the sibling of a current or former student (if that is a factor giving priority of enrolment under the scheme).

In these situations, if the board has reasonable grounds for believing that the information given at the time of application was deliberately false, and the parents have been unable to provide a satisfactory explanation, then the board may annul the enrolment.

Note: If any of the above scenarios come to light before enrolment takes place (ie before attendance commences) the board would be able to simply withdraw any offer of a place which it had made on the basis of the information provided at the time of pre-enrolment.

Use of a temporary residence

Annulment is via Section 11O(1A) if the board has received no satisfactory explanation following its decision to review an enrolment.

An enrolment may be reviewed if the board has reasonable grounds to believe that a temporary address was used to unfairly gain priority in enrolment. This matter is covered in an earlier section, headed "Temporary residence". (See page 7.)

Annulment procedures

The annulment will take effect one month from the date on which the board decided to annul the enrolment.

Immediately after taking the decision to annul an enrolment, the board must

1. advise the student's parents, in writing, of the date of the annulment and the date on which it takes effect; and
2. advise the Secretary (by contacting the relevant Ministry office) of the name of the student and the date of the annulment.

If parents continue to dispute the board's ruling, they should be advised that they can apply to the Secretary for directed enrolment under Section 11P(1).