He said the trust had a good good partnership with another applicant, the Otahuhu-based Rise Up Trust, so if successful their first school might be in South Auckland.
"That being said, the board may decide the greater need is in Wanganui.
"We want to make sure we get it right," Mr Poole said.
If the trust's first round application for a Wanganui partnership school wasn't accepted, Mr Poole said they would try again as a need for one had been identified.
"There is no guarantee that we will get a Wanganui school in the first round but, if we miss out, we will keep trying and will also look at other methods for beginning a 60-student school there. It is where my wife, Karen, and I grew up and we believe we can bring something positive back to the city."
He said there was a lot more to the needs of New Zealand children than was normally expressed, and those needs were often glossed over as the education system ranked well overseas.
"But New Zealand is a small and very well-resourced nation. NCEA is also a very manageable qualification and yet each year, with Maori and Pasifika children over-represented, there is a large chuck of each cohort that misses out and reduces their future life chances.
"That is the long-term and urgent scandal. Something has to change and the partnership schools model may be a small part of that."
Mr Poole said he was not aware of any other applications for a partnership school in Wanganui.