Lease woes leave Tin Hau Montessori school on shaky ground
Parents seek answers as fears grow that popular Montessori campus will soon be kicked off site after landlord stalls on renewing lease
Parents of pupils at an international school in Tin Hau are growing concerned at the slow progress of the renewal of the lease on its campus, which has just eight months to run.
They fear that the site's landlord, the Construction Association, might use the fact that the International Montessori School has been granted a site in Stanley to develop a new campus as an excuse to reclaim the land in Tin Hau.
An association spokesman was unwilling to comment on whether it would renew the lease.
"We're in communication on an ongoing basis," said the school's co-founder Karin Ann, adding that talks with the association about the land lease - which has been extended in the past - were "in progress".
While Ann said the school and the association were "continuing to work through the process", parents said they were concerned because they had not heard from the school.
"Nobody knows if it can stay [in Tin Hau] or not," said a woman with two daughters at the school. "If the school has to move, we have to consider either moving home or sending them to another school. But we love the school so much. We don't want to see that happen."
The parent, who lives in Mid-Levels, said she had e-mailed the school to ask whether it had secured a lease renewal but "had not had any confirmation".
Damian Coory, who has two children at the school, believed the school's co-founders were "trying to sort it out" with the association. He said attempting to move pupils from Tin Hau to Stanley would be a mistake.
"We won that [Stanley] campus for new school places," Coory said. "And it's not OK to keep moving kids … It's miles away."
The school - established 12 years ago - moved into its current site three years ago. The lease on the campus, which houses 300 primary pupils, expires in July.
The Construction Association used to run a school of its own on the site on Tin Hau Temple Road. The association last year announced plans to turn the site into a hostel for young people in partnership with the Federation of Youth Groups, though the Education Bureau later said the site would be retained for educational purposes.
The school's other co-founder, Anne Sawyer, said the school was not looking to the Stanley site to replace Tin Hau.
"I don't think the expectation is that [the new site in Stanley] replaces this. The people and the community in this area value having an international school here," said Sawyer.
An education bureau spokesman said it did not know the details of the tenancy agreement but was "aware that the school and the association have entered discussion regarding the renewal of the tenancy".
If the association planned to develop its Tin Hau site it should "ensure early notice and allow sufficient time for the school to make necessary arrangements for the students in the Tin Hau campus and to factor in relocation of the school in an orderly manner", the bureau said.
"We will continue to provide necessary facilitation and support to the school in the process," he said.
About 100 children who will attend the Stanley campus are now pupils at Tin Hau. More pupils are being recruited for the Stanley site, which opens in February.
Pioneered by Italian educator Maria Montessori more than a century ago, Montessori education is characterised by multi-age classrooms, absence of grades and tests, and individual and small-group instruction. It has proved increasingly popular with local and expatriate parents. When it was granted the Stanley site in April, the school said it had 800 children on its waiting list.
