However, the 7-year-old boy is now attending another school.
Principal Richard Aitken said the school finished last year with just five pupils, after being told in December it must re-enrol the boy who was excluded last August for a history of disruptive behaviour and serious assaults on other pupils.
The school and the board had done everything they could to help the boy, including employing a full-time teacher aide just to look after him. Other schools in the area had been asked to enrol the boy but, because he lived outside their enrolment zones, he was not eligible to attend them.
Three parents pulled their children from Tomahawk School in response to the ministry's decision, while two other pupils in year 6 moved on to intermediate, Mr Aitken said.
"We were looking at starting this year with five students which left us asking the question, 'Is it viable for us to keep this school open'.
"There were people in the community asking whether the Ministry of Education had made their decision in a bid to close our school down."
It was an allegation the ministry denied vehemently.
Mr Aitken said the school carried out a marketing drive in local media during the holidays which focused on the school's positive attributes.
"Over the course of the holidays, the parents of the student in question decided to send him to another school. That information was not put in the marketing.
"Now, our roll has more than doubled to 11 students and more parents are starting to put their children's names down to start at the school later in the year."
Mr Aitken predicted the roll could increase to about 20 pupils by the end of 2009.
"I'm ecstatic about that. There are so many good qualities about this school that were masked by some behavioural issues. I'm very pleased people are seeing the benefits of a school that pledges to maintain a low teacher-to-student ratio.
"We're heading back into 2009 with a renewed passion for the job," Mr Aitken said.
