Why Kelston Boys could be turned into a charter school without the school’s approval

Explainer - An attempt to turn an Auckland school into a charter school without the school staff's involvement has fired up debate.

The move has surprised many, with some calling it a "takeover" attempt of a public school. But public school conversions are allowed as part of the process around designating charter schools, which have been recently reintroduced.

Here's how charter school conversions can work.

What's happening in Kelston?

A group called Bangerz Education and Wellbeing Trust (BEWT) put forward an application to convert Kelston Boys' High School into a charter school by 1 January 2026.

The group is led by a former board member, Siaosi Gavet. The trust says it is a "by youth, for youth" charity with a board made up of Pasifika and Māori under the age of 25.

Gavet is chief executive and co-founder of Pro-Pare Management Trust, a youth development service for young people who like sport.

He earlier told RNZ a charter school would give more flexibility to better influence curriculum and resources.

"Basically with more freedom to operate within a modern learning environment," he said.

In its application the group says conversion would solve "the continuing fall in educational attainment at Kelston Boys' High School". On its website, BEWT puts forth a case for a sports-focused curriculum - "it is a rugby school, not an academic school", one statement reads - and that the school is plagued by violence, notably the death of a student on campus in 2013 during a rugby practice.

However, the school attacked the application, with its acting principal saying it "is not endorsed or supported by us".

"Our senior leaders and staff do NOT believe that becoming a charter school is in the best interests of our students and community," Daniel Samuela wrote in a message to the community.

Samuela said there had been a lack of transparency from BEWT during the process and that the school "remains well placed to provide a quality education to your sons".

RNZ understands this is not the trust's first application for conversion; it applied to run a charter school in the first round but was unsuccessful.

How do charter school applications work?

Charter schools were reintroduced by the coalition government earlier this year.

They previously existed from about 2014 to 2018 but were shut down by former education minister Chris Hipkins, who called them "a failed, expensive experiment".

Instead of a school board, charter schools are independently operated by a sponsor organisation which signs a contract with the Crown to run the school. The idea is that they offer more choice and diversity in education.

They must meet performance targets specified in their contracts with the government.

Associate Education Minister David Seymour, who has strongly supported them, has said they "raise overall educational achievement, especially for students who are underachieving or disengaged from the current system".

The coalition government set aside $153 million for 15 new charter schools and the conversion of 35 state schools for 2025 and 2026.

To become a charter school, applicants need to have a sponsor and submit expressions of interest and declaration forms. They then must reach out to the school community to gauge what they think of the proposal before the Charter School Authorisation Board makes a decision on the application.

"The Authorisation Board must take into account the level of support for the proposed charter school from the community in which it is proposed to be established," Justine Mahon, chair of the Charter School Authorisation Board, told RNZ.

The agency assesses applications as "viable" or "not viable" against their application criteria.

The Authorisation Board also conducts its own consultations with the school staff and students and wider community.

The board considers the Charter School Agency's advice but makes independent decisions in its final call.

And what about conversions?

An existing public school can decide to convert to a charter school using the same process as new schools would.

"No public schools have converted to charter schools at this point," Mahon said.

Mahon said there have been 14 formal expressions of interest and eight applications for schools to convert.

Two state schools have been approved to convert to charter schools next year. Their identities remain confidential until the deal is announced.

"About nine other schools are actively considering, consulting on, and exploring converting to a charter school, and about nine further schools contacted the agency last month to informally discuss converting," she said.

The Kelston case appears to be the first public announcement of a school attempting to convert without the school itself applying.

The Authorisation Board needs to confirm the sponsor and governing members are "fit and proper", Mahon said. There's also other criteria such as the charter school's focus, the sponsor's capabilities, financial implications for the Crown and whether the purpose of the Education Act will be met, Mahon said.

"Applicants that want to convert an existing state or state integrated school to a charter school are required to demonstrate the level of support for the proposed conversion to bring a charter school, and for the proposed sponsor, from the school community," Mahon said.

"This provides an opportunity for staff, students, whānau, and the wider community to provide feedback on the applicant's proposal to convert a charter school and the level of support for the potential sponsor."

The government recently announced changes to make conversion more attractive - doubling the term of the schools' contracts from 10 to 20 years with two 10-year rights of renewal, allowing sponsors to run multiple schools with only one multi-school contract, and creating a pathway for converted schools to return to the state system.

If a public school is converted to a charter school, "all employees of a converted school will become employees of the new sponsor," the Charter School Agency says.

"Staff will be transferred on terms and conditions which are 'no less favourable overall', which includes in relation to the employees' overall remuneration and service related to superannuation entitlements."

Can just anyone apply to take over a charter school?

The Charter School Agency says the process can be initiated by a school board - or one or more members of a school community together with a prospective sponsor, as in the case of Kelston.

Labour MP for Kelston Carmel Sepuloni has criticised the efforts there, describing it as "cowboy organisations putting pressure on our state schools".

"It's been done in the most unusual way, in a way where the schools have felt quite threatened, it's been relentless."

There has also been concern about the Kelston application on local message boards and community forums, with nearly 300 comments on the school's post on the matter, most of them supporting the school's current administrators.

"Kelston Boys' is more than a school," one parent wrote. "It's a family, a community, and a place that builds strong hearts as much as strong minds. We cannot lose what makes this school so special."

In its consultation report about Kelston, BEWT has said the acting principal had "misrepresented the conversion application as a hostile takeover by an external group with no ties to the school", and cited allegedly "abusive" emails to organisers.

University of Otago education professor Karen Nairn has written about concerns over the privatisation of education, and expressed worries about how the Kelston application has unfolded.

"I can't quite believe what's unfolding for Kelston without any kind of involvement from or confirmation from Kelston itself," she said.

"What are their long-term commitments? Students in schools need longevity and not some kind of situation where the contract could be terminated."

Nairn also pointed out that charter schools are not obligated to follow the curriculum of state schools, which is currently undergoing controversial changes.

"I know that Kelston Boys has had an up and down period of time ... but it's unacceptable that then gets consigned to some private sponsor that has no track record and actually what schools need is actually increased public support to make sure that they meet the needs of their students."

At the moment, both the applicants and the school don't seem to agree on what that might be.

"We will encourage students to 'Shoot for the moon. If you miss you will still be among the stars'," BEWT wrote on its application to take over the school.

"We are very proud of the progress that has been made over recent years and the plans to continue to grow and improve for the future," acting principal Samuela said in his statement.

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