Troubled North charter school gets another chance

Robert Carpenter trustee Whangaruru charter school - Te Kura Hourua Ki Whangaruru.

A problematic Northland charter school has agreed to reimburse the Government if it closes in exchange for one last chance following a damning audit report.

Minister of Education Hekia Parata have announced the troubled Te Pumanawa o te Wairua near Whangaruru would be allowed to remain open for now, despite a damning audit criticising almost all aspects of the school's operation.

In a letter to the kura trust Ms Parata said its plan to remedy the issues presented a "realistic opportunity of success".

"This also includes, in the event of termination of the Agreement, the Trust having agreed to realising the value of the land and chattels to reimburse the Crown for as much of the funds invested in the Kura as possible," Ms Parata wrote.

Previously the Government could only confirm it would negotiate with the trust should it close. The Northern Advocate can reveal $4.4million has been spent on the kura, which opened last year, including a recent one-off payment of $129,000 to help remedy the ongoing issues.

Nga Parirau Matauranga Charitable Trust which governs the kura did not respond to questions by edition time. In a Facebook post the kura said students, staff and trustees expressed their "appreciation and jubilation" at the news.

Ms Parata said she allowed the kura to remain open for now as many of the 39 students had no other educational options. "Given the patchy background ... I would be very worried that they could end up in benefit-dependent situations," she said.

She was also concerned some were ending up in the justice system. She put the kura on performance notice in February after a series of issues, with an audit going through the following month.

Released yesterday, the audit found there were grounds to close the school, identifying issues with poor financial performance, low NCEA pass rates, ad hoc administration practices and ineffective governance, among other things.

The long-term future of the kura remains unclear though with another audit scheduled for October.

The audit report, compiled by Deloitte and dated May 28, showed the kura debit card had more than $4000 in unexplained withdrawals and had been used to buy KFC, Domino's Pizza and Burger King.

"Based on our findings above we are unable to determine if all the operational funds received by the kura were used for the purposes for which they were granted," the report said.

Three of the four trustees said in the report they did not have the capability to govern the kura to the level required. A common theme in the report was poor or incomplete record keeping with the auditors often unable to access the information required.

The kura had gone through an extensive restructure with curriculum director Natasha Sadler and manager/trustee Makere Laurence-Bade made redundant in April.

Out of the five original trustees, only one, Robert Carpenter, remained, with former chief executive Deeann Brown recently taking over as board chairwoman.

Former ministry-appointed adviser Chris Saunders stepped in as education director in the short term while the trust recruited a principal, something that had proved difficult.

Conditions for staying open until the end of the year included the appointment of former secretary of education Karen Sewell as a board member, as requested by Ms Parata, and the appointment of another trustee with a business background.