It has been one year since the Otago Daily Times highlighted the dire state of Sara Cohen, a special education school in which, among other non-compliance issues, pupils in wheelchairs cannot access buildings independently, wheelchairs can not move freely in classrooms, and there is only one toilet equipped for disabled pupils.
Mrs Alexander wants the school's decrepit buildings demolished and rebuilt to meet education standards.
The Caversham school has, so far, been unable to secure funding.
However, an announcement by Associate Education Minister Rodney Hide at the Special Schools Principals' Conference in Christchurch last week should change that.
He said $22.8 million had been allocated to "implement building projects in special schools and their satellites".
Mrs Alexander intended to invite Mr Hide to Dunedin to see the school and gain traction on the rebuild issue.
"The money has given us hope," she said.
The school board has already created a 20 to 30-year strategic plan, which would see it co-locate with another school in the South Dunedin area.
Special education southern regional manager Adele Peart-Baillie acknowledged Sara Cohen School was a high priority and indicated it was on the top of the list for a rebuild, Mrs Alexander said.
Another issue she wanted to raise with Mr Hide was transportation of pupils to and from school.
The Ministry of Education provides financial assistance to pupils who require help to get to school because of mobility or safety issues.
Five Sara Cohen pupils are fighting to receive this transport assistance.
She believed the ministry would not approve funding because it believed children should be educated at their closest school, and each school was capable of supporting any child, regardless of that being the case or not.
The majority of the children in question are in wheelchairs, require feeding and toileting assistance and have serious medical difficulties.
"How do you think, at this stage of New Zealand society, the local school can manage their needs?" Mrs Alexander said.
About $30 million was budgeted by the Ministry of Education for special education school transport assistance annually, but she believed if Sara Cohen was given $500,000 a year, transport could be organised for all pupils.
A bus could be hired to drive able-bodied children to school, and others could be transported in the school vans.
"It's all about the cost of a taxi, not about the needs of the person."
A review of special education transport is due out in March.
