Troubled charter school could be closed by May

Te Pumanawa o te Wairua School's leadership team needs to be replaced, according to a new report. Photo / Northern Advocate

One of the country's first charter schools could be shut down as early as May if it fails to take swift action, documents show.

Advice to Minister Hekia Parata from the Ministry of Education about Te Pumanawa o te Wairua School, in Whangaruru, Northland, says the school's leadership team needs to be replaced if it has any hope of overcoming its significant issues.

Last week, the Minister gave the school an official warning, with a month to implement a remedial plan before undergoing a specialist audit.

Documents released today, including an annotated report written by the ministry's deputy secretary or sector enablement and support Katrina Casey , identified school management as the cause of the issues - which include truancy, a falling roll and underachievement.

"The on-going issues present at the school are directly attributable to the quality of the leadership and management running the school," it said.

Next to that comment, Ms Parata had written: "YES".

The report went on to say the Ng? Parirau M?tauranga Trust, which had the contract to run the school, needed to replace the leadership team with suitable appropriate and experienced personnel. Only in that case could it make a swift recovery.

It said a trust member had taken a part time operational role in the school this year, but it was "not clear they have the required skills to effectively manage the Education Director or the operations of the school".

Ms Casey wrote the confidence of the ministry to implement the remedial plan and address the issues was very low.

The report included a timeline of possible actions for the school following the specialist audit. If the school was incapable of being remedied then the minister could give the school written notice of termination in April, and formally terminate the agreement by the end of May.

Several sections of the report were blacked out for legal or commercial reasons. Sources say those sections will pertain to whether the ministry can recover funds given to the school.

The document also highlighted poor educational achievement - only 30 percent of the schools students achieved NCEA Level 2 out of an expected 66.9 per cent.

The kura, located on a farm 65km north-west of Whangarei, has been plagued with problems since it opened at the start of last year. While the school started last year with 61 students, despite the fact it was funded for 71, the roll quickly dropped. It now sits at 37 - the lowest it has been.

Charter schools are funded by the Government but set their own curriculum, school hours, holidays and pay rates.

They were strongly opposed by opposition political parties and teaching unions, but were implemented as part of the National party's confidence and supply agreement with ACT.

Timeline

16 September 2013 - Nga Parirau Matauranga approved to open a partnership school

December 2013 - ERO submits interim report on Te Kira Hourua ki Whangaruru to open February 24

10 Feb 2014 - Te Kura Houra ki Whangaruru opens with 70 students

April 2014 - ERO submits readiness review for the school, and its provides a remedial plan in response

April 2014 - An interim CEO is appointed after the resignation of the business manager. Improvements made

June 2013 - Resignation of interim CEO. Trust did not accept interim CEO's advice regarding the education director

September 2014 - school observed by ERO and Authorisation board and found several areas of concern

October 2014 - Ministry staff meet with the trust to discuss the issues arising

February 4 2015 - school re opens for the year

February 20 - Minister Hekia Parata meets with the school and issues a performance notice. School has one month to address the concerns prior to a specialist audit