Converting schools FAQs
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Overview
What additional flexibilities will a converting school have?
Charter schools have considerable flexibility around teaching, curriculum, governance, hours and days of operation. They can decide how to use their funding and can set their own curriculum, and choose their own hours and term dates. In exchange for this greater autonomy, charter schools are accountable for delivering outcomes via their contract.
Who can be the sponsor of a converting school?
A sponsor is the organisation approved by the Charter School Authorisation Board to operate a charter school. It must be a body corporate, corporation sole, limited partnership, institution, or a related entity that wishes to open and operate a charter school.
For a converting school, the application process could be initiated by either a school board or one or more members of a school community together with a prospective sponsor. If the application is successful and the school converts to a charter school, the school board will no longer exist.
How will contracts link with the conditions in a school’s integration agreement?
On the conversion date, integration agreements between the proprietor and the Crown relating to a state integrated school will be treated as cancelled. Any new contractual obligations and/or agreements (such as property related agreements) will need to be worked through as part of contract negotiation between the sponsor and the Agency.
Community support
Is community support needed for a school to convert?
When considering applications, the Authorisation Board must consider the level of support from the community in which the school is proposed to be established. This covers both new and converting schools.
For converting school applications, the Authorisation Board must also consult the community and others to ascertain the level of support. This will involve consulting with the school board, school community, school staff, students, and any other people the Authorisation Board thinks fit.
How does the Act protect special character when a school converts?
If the state school is a designated character school, a Kura Kaupapa Māori, or a state integrated school, the character of the school must be maintained upon conversion.
Employment
What will happen to staff if a school converts to become a charter school?
If a state school or state integrated school converts, all employees of a converted school will become employees of the new sponsor. The sponsor employs all staff and negotiates salary levels and employment conditions. For converting schools, 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.
Do charter schools need to be part of the state school collective agreement?
Charter schools have more employment flexibility than state or state integrated schools. The sponsor employs all staff and negotiates salary levels and employment conditions.
At least 75 percent of teaching staff at a Charter School must hold a current practising certificate. The remainder of teaching staff must be people who hold a Limited Authority to Teach.
Do the same exemptions for state integrated schools from the Human Rights Act 1993 apply to charter schools?
Section 28(2) of the Human Rights Act 1993 (HRA) provides for different treatment based on religious or ethical belief where:
- the treatment is accorded under clause 47 of Schedule 6 of the Education and Training Act 2020; or
- the sole or principal duties of the position (not being a position to which clause 47 of Schedule 6 of the Education and Training Act 2020 applies) —
- are, or are substantially the same as, those of a clergyman, priest, pastor, official, or teacher among adherents of that belief or otherwise involve the propagation of that belief; or
(ii) are those of a teacher in a private school; or
(iii) consist of acting as a social worker on behalf of an organisation whose members comprise solely or principally adherents of that belief.
This provision in the HRA does not apply to charter schools (including state integrated schools that convert) because:
- clause 47 of Schedule 6 to the Act relates to state integrated schools and not to charter schools;
- teaching positions in a charter school are not substantially the same as those of a clergyman, priest, pastor, official, or teacher among adherents of that belief or otherwise involve the propagation of that belief. (The principal duties of the person are those of a registered teacher, not the propagation of a belief);
- charter schools are not a type of private school;
- charter school teachers are not acting as social workers.
Therefore, none of the exceptions in section 28 of the HRA apply, and charter school sponsors may not provide different treatment on the grounds of religious or ethical belief.
Does the Public Service Act 2020 apply to charter schools?
Unlike a state or state integrated school board, a charter school sponsor is not subject to the appointment requirements of the Public Service Act 2020 as a sponsor is not part of the state services.
This means that section 72 of that Act – which says: When making an appointment under this Act, a chief executive or board must give preference to the person who is best suited to the position – does not apply to charter school sponsors.
Can charter school contracts for state integrated schools have tagged teacher positions?
Under the Education and Training Act the only positions that can be tagged are those of the Chief Executive and the person responsible for teaching and learning at a charter school. Section 212ZB states:
If religious instruction forms part of the special character of a charter school, advertisements for the position of the chief executive and the person responsible for teaching and learning at the school may state that a willingness and an ability to take part in religious instruction appropriate to that school are conditions of appointment.
If an advertisement includes these conditions, then the person in the role must be prepared to take part in religious instruction. All other teaching staff cannot be required to take part in religious instruction (but can if they choose to).
Enrolment
Will enrolment schemes apply to converting charter schools?
Enrolment schemes will not apply to new or converting charter schools. This means existing or proposed zones will not be applied to a school that converts to become a charter school.
What will replace enrolment schemes?
When a state or state integrated school converts, all students currently enrolled at the school must be allowed to attend the charter school.
Instead of enrolment schemes, charter schools will be restricted in the number of students that can be enrolled by the physical capacity of the school premises. The physical capacity of the premises is agreed during contract negotiations and stated in the contract.
A charter school must enrol all domestic students entitled to free enrolment and free education who apply to the school. A charter school may decline to enrol a student if:
- enrolment of that student means that they would exceed the physical capacity of the charter school premises
- a parent, or other person who has accepted responsibility for the education of the student, refuses to accept that the charter school operates in accordance with any religious, philosophical, or other distinguishing characteristics approved by the Authorisation Board and notified in the Gazette.
If a converted charter school previously had an enrolment scheme when it was a state school, the order of priority, if the school is oversubscribed, is set out the Act. The first priority is for any applicant who lives in the area of the converting school’s previous home zone.
How do preferential enrolments work on conversion?
If a converting state school is a state integrated school then the character of the school must be maintained. This will be a condition to the Authorisation Board’s approval of the application and will be noted in the contract as a distinguishing characteristic of the school.
Sponsors must enrol any domestic student entitled to free enrolment and free education under section 33 of the Act. However, they may (but are not required to) decline to enrol a student if a parent, or other person who has accepted responsibility for the education of the student, refuses to accept that the Charter School operates in accordance with any religious, philosophical, or other distinguishing characteristics approved by the Authorisation Board and notified in the Gazette.
This is substantially the same as for a state integrated school, which must enrol any domestic student, who is entitled to preference in enrolment, who applies. Charter schools must accept all students that meet the distinguishing characteristic requirements, and a ballot run if there is demand that exceeds physical capacity.
If a sponsor chooses not to deny enrolment on the grounds above then it cannot require a student to participate in observances and instruction related to the religious, philosophical, or other distinguishing characteristic of the school if a parent of the student states that they do not wish that student to participate (section 212Z).
Do roll caps apply on conversion?
No. When a state integrated school converts, its roll cap will be lifted. As part of contracting, schools will agree a physical capacity measure, which should reflect the maximum number of students that can be enrolled in the charter school or schools at that premises (as intended under section 212U of the Act,). This measure can help schools to manage their enrolment. The buildings capacity also applies to other activities (for example, after school activities such as meetings with parents or whānau, or community activities held on-site).
The physical capacity of a charter school is agreed during contract negotiations and noted as a Specific Term in the contract. The physical capacity measure of a school can be re-negotiated between the parties as required – if, for example a sponsor purchases or leases additional space to accommodate roll growth.
In determining the physical capacity of a charter school, a sponsor must take into account the number of students, teachers and staff as well as any other person that may be on site during the course of normal operations (for example, subcontractors). A buildings capacity including that of a charter school’s premises is noted on the Building Warrant of Fitness held on the school site. This will help the sponsor to assess, but will not directly determine, the charter school’s physical capacity.
Fees
Will converting state integrated schools be able to charge attendance dues if they did previously?
Charter schools must provide free enrolment and free education to any domestic student. They must not charge any fee for curriculum-related activity, such as:
- subject fees
- education outside the classroom
- anything that occurs offsite but that is related to the curriculum
- anything where there is a general expectation that students attend (for example, field trips or a school camp).
The only fee that can be charged is a property maintenance fee. However, this fee can only be charged by charter schools that converted from being a state integrated school, and had an agreement, immediately before conversion, to charge attendance dues.
Property
Will converting schools receive establishment funding?
Converting schools will not receive establishment funding. Establishment funding is intended to support the set-up of new schools, similar to what is provided for a new school in the state system.
Some assistance is available to meet reasonable expenses related to conversion, in agreement with the Agency.
What are the provisions relating to property?
A sponsor of a converted state or state integrated school will be fully responsible for the property, including complying with relevant legislation and ensuring premises are suitable.
Sponsors will be provided with funding for the relevant property arrangement as part of their cashed-up funding.
Will capital funding for a state integrated school converting to a charter school be equivalent to policy 2 funding?
Policy Two funding is the funding that is available (subject to Budget decisions) to state integrated schools to help with the cost of new classrooms to accommodate any increase in maximum roll. The Crown has not received additional funding for state integrated school expansion since 2019.
Charter schools are not eligible for Policy Two funding. Instead, sponsors are eligible for increased per-student funding that reflects a school’s roll growth, provided as part of ongoing operating payments. This may or may not equate to Policy Two funding, depending on school size and type, and the nature of the project.
There may be charter schools that provide education partly via distance and partly via face-to-face delivery. In those cases, the CSA will negotiate a percentage on which the charter school is funded via the distance education funding model versus the standard charter school funding model. For example, if 60 percent of the education is provided in person, 60 percent of the funding would be calculated based on the standard charter school funding model and 40 percent would be based on the distance charter school funding model.
School transport
Will students who currently have access to school transport services have access to school bus services when a school converts?
Charter schools are able to apply to the Ministry of Education for transport assistance for eligible students. Schools with eligible students can choose to either receive funding to provide their own transport services, or to take part in an existing school transport service provided by the Ministry. Because the entitlement is attached to individual eligible students and not to schools, eligibility can change over time.