15 July 2015 iM60/?i 04/5213 Education Report: Further Advice on Te Pumanawa te Wairua Partnership School Recommendations We recommend that the Minister of Education: a. note that the Ministry of Education provided you with an Education Report: ?Findings of the Specialist Audit of Te P?manawa te Wairua Partnership Schooi? on 28 May 2015, recommending that you issue the sponsor of Te P?manawa te Wairua, Nga Parirau Matauranga Charitable Trust; with a Netice of Intent to Terminate its Partnership School agreement (METIS 921078 refers); notethat you asked the Ministry to provide you with advice about the options avaiiabie under the Agreement at this point (whilst still retaining the option to oiose the kura); and about the Kura's student profile and the transition req'Liirements for the students to other schools, and the risks of doing so, should the k'ura ciose; note that the Ministry advised that to ensure the students get the best education possible while remaining at the Kura for the rest of the 2015 school year wouid be by issuing the TrUst with a NotiCe to prepare a Remedial Plan under clause 24.3 of the Agreement. The Remediai Plan would need to address the critical deficiencies identified in the Specialist Audit to ensure first and foremost the students' needs were met; note that many of the Kura's students. have preViOuSIy been excluded from one or more schoois, and the Kura has provided them with an Opportunity to receive educational quaiitications. Retaining the students in this environment might have better tong term outcomes for them than being transitioned to other education options; . note that Dee-Ann Brown and Wayne Johnstone wrote to you on 12 June 2015 outlining progress since the issuance of the Performance Notice, and steps the Trust was taking to address the Kura's shortcomings (ietter attached in Appendix - note that the Specialist Audit report was presented to the Board by Hira Gage, the Director of Education Northiand, on ?17 June along with your letter outlining your concerns; note that the Trust Board's new Chair (Dee?Ann Brown), and its interim CEO (Wayne Johnstone) wrote to you again on 24 June 2015, once it had received a copy of the audit report and your letter of 17 June, outlining steps the Trust was taking to address the matters raised in the audit report, and seeking the opportunity to remedy these in the coming months (attached in Appendix 3). On receipt of this letter you also asked for advice about the conditions that would be appropriate if you were to choose this option. The Ministry provided you with a draft letter, which incorp?Orated the conditions, and the requirement to produce a Remedial Plan, to the Trust Board (letter attached as Appendix One) as an alternative to the Notice of intent to Terminate (updated Notice with new Chair, attached as Appendix Two); i. note that you still have the ability to issue the Notice of intent to Terminate if you chose to do so; and J. agree to: the release of related documents on the Ministry?s website, with redaction on a date ordate's to be agreed with your Office. Katrina asey Deput secretary Enablement and Support David Seymour Under-Secretary to the Minister of Education Hon Hekia Parata Minister of Education L745 Education Report: Further Advice on Te P?manawa te Wairua Partnership School Purpose of Report 1. This report documents deveioprnentssince you received eariier advice about Te Pamanawa te wairUa on 28 May 2015. This report also summarises the requested advice provided to you since the report on 28 May on the folloWing: a. A full set of options available to you under the agreement; inciudin?g; negotiated inte'ryention to keep the Kura open, interventidn by the Secretary, negotiated termination, retention of the kura and retention of the option to close the kdra; - b. Profits of the Students attending the kura, likely transition arrangements for. the students, and the associated risks to. their retention in an education Setting; c. Further processes and conditions associated with a meeting With th'e'TruSt that occurred on 4 Joly 2015. Background 3. You issued-the TruSt With a Performance Notice and intention to Audit on 20 Febrdary 2015; The finai report of the Specialist Audit, including the ERO parts of the audit was prettide to the Ministry on 20 May 2015. The Trust Board?s former Chair wrote to the Ministry of Education on it May 2015, With an Update of actions it had taken to that date. We. provided you withan Education "Report. emitted ?Findings. 0f the Specialist Audit or Te 'P'L'ima'naw'a-o te? Wa'ir'ua Partnership Benedi? on 28" May 2015, enclosing a copy of the-Audit rep0rt_._ Werecommended that You issue the Sponsor of Te Pfirnain'a'wao te Parirau 'MataUranga Charitable Trust, With a Notice of intent to Terminate its Partnership School agreement (the notice is attached to this report as Appendix Two). If issued. this notice. would have provided the Trust with ten. Working days to respond :With any reasonsyiihy' it belieyed the, agreement shoUld net be terminated, for yet! to consider before making a final decision 921078 refers]. At this'time'you reQUeSted advice about a full set of options available to you under the agreemerittyith'the'Sponsor including neQOtiated interyention to keep the__Ku_ra open. intervention by the Secretary, negtjtiat'e'c'l termination, retention of the Kura and retenti'On cf the epidemic cloSe the Kora. You also asked for adviceabout the profile of thestudents attending the Kura, likelytranSition students, and the asSociated risks to their retention in education it the Kura closed. 8. Wayne Johnstone and Dee-Ann Brown then wrote to you on 12 June 2015 with a further update. This provided information about progress made, including forming an Advisory Group, removing the Education Director, the resignations of the Trust Chair, and the other Trust Board members. 9. It is noted that the Board has taken some criticai steps removing Trustees and the Education Director, and bringing in expertise to improve systems at the Kura. Securing support from Ngati Wat is also seen as an important and significant step. 10. The Audit report was presented to the Board by Hira Gage, Director of Education Northland, on 17 June 2015. You also wrote to the Board on 17 June, and this letter was presented along with the report. The ietter advised the . Board of your level of concern for the students and that a number of tions were open to both parties, including termination, which you asked to discuss with the Board before any final decision was made. met with 2 I the Board on 19 June 015 gaging] 11. On 24 June 2015 the Trust Board?s new Chair and interim CEO wrote to you, advising that the Trust took full responsibility for the failings identified, and outlining some significant action the Board had taken to address these matters, in addition to steps taken since March 2015. 12. That letter proposed that you allow the Kura to remain open for the remainder of 2015 with a comprehensive action pian to be put in piece to remedy the Kura?s shortcomings. It was proposed that progress be closely monitored, and a second audit be conducted late in 2015 to determine progress. Depending on that audit?s findings, the Trust proposed a monitoring programme be impiemented for 2016, or exit negotiations take place between yourself and the Trust. 13. After you received this ietter, you sought additional advice on the conditions that would be appropriate if this option were chosen. You made it clear the only reason you wouid consider the proposal from the Trust was concern for the students and given their protiie whether or not they had a strong chance of integration into mainstream education part way through the schooi year, and what the consequences of these students being lost to the system would be. Remedial Plan and Requirements harem)? Fi? 14. When providing additional advice to you it was recommended that* if you wished to provide the requested opportunity to eep ura open, was to? issue the Trust with a requirement to develop and implement a Remedial Plan under clause 24.3 of the Agreement. This provides you with the option to terminate the Agreement, at your sole discretion, if the Trust: - - - refuses to agree to produce a Remediai Plan to the specified requirements; or - fails to submit a Pian by the specified date; or - submits a Pian that is not agreeable to you (is. is not in line with the specified requirements); or - fails to implement the Plan to your satisfaction at any point after you have?agreed to it. 15was recommended that the progress towards these conditions-and against all measures in the original Agreement would need to be measured in a new Specialist Audit to be undertaken in October 2015. The proposal from the Trust, detailed in their letter of 24 June is to develop a plan to completely address the identified issues, with the Kura operating for the remainder of 2015 while these actions are taken. . The Trust also proposed that if the failures and breaches are shown by an audit not to be sufficiently addressed, that the Trust will enter into exit negotiations. Given the time lapse since the Performance Notice was issued it was recommended that fotlowing be minimum requirements for any Remedial Plan provided by the Trust a. Appointment, by resolution, of one or more Trustees nominated by you, and at least one with an education focus; b. Appointment, by resolution, of one or more Trustees, and at least one with a recognised financial and business background; 0. in consultation with the Ministry of Education, secure and confirm the Kura's new education teader; d. Prepare and present to you a detailed Remedial Plan which must include correcting all the critical deficiencies identified in the Specialist Audit. The Partnership Schools Agreement requires you to issue notice of this requirement in writing, specifying the matters the Plan must address, and specifyingthe date by which it must be submitted to you for approval. A letter prepared outlining these requirements is attached as Appendix One. The Remedial Plan needs to be SMART1, and be submitted to the Ministry by 5pm Friday 17 July. it, following the audit, the Kura is granted the opportunity to remain open in 2016; it s'hbuld be required to do so on the terms specified by ydu at the time that the decision is taken. if the audit identifies that the issues have not been adequately addressed, you retain the Option of issuing a Notice of Intent to Terminate. impact on Students Risks 23. The students attending this Kura present the most challenges of ail of the Partnership Schoois? student populations. Many have been previously excluded from one or more schools in the area, for a variety of reasons. The Kura has provided an opportunity for these students to receive an education. 1 Speci?c, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-based 24. For example, one has no previous record of formal schooling, and four were last enrolled in a school between 2010 and 2012. Five have a long involvement with Truancy Services and 16 had a stand down history at previous schools. Nine have attended six or more schools. 25. There is no guarantee that all of the students would be able to be successfully placed back into mainstream education or other education options. It would also be challenging for any school or provider to retain these students and keep them engaged in education. 26. The students themselves might feel disenfranchised, with their last perceived option for some level of educational success taken away, potentially being put back into a system from which they were already disengaged. Under these circumstances their opportunity to succeed would be limited. Longitudinally, it could be more successful to support the Kura to provide for these students, with a view to reducing any future liability and costs to the state that might be required as a result of them being lost to education. Mitigation 28. if the Kura were to close, the Ministry would develop a plan with each of the students and their whanau, to keep them in education. This could include provision of intensive wrap-around services, to minimise the barriers to a successful transition to other education options and would necessitate additional resourcing. 29. Support options considered for these students, should the Kura close, include RTLB and teacher aide access, and programmes such as Stepping Stones and PEARL. lnteragency support would include Police, Youth Mental Health, and CYF. Risks 30. There are risks associated with the Kura remaining open. These are balanced with the ability to issue a Notice of intent to Terminate at any time if the Trust is found to not be meeting the requirements of the remedial plan. - However these risks also have to be considered alongside the risk to students if the Kura were to close part way through 2015, given the profile of these students and their history of educational disengagement and non?achievement. Keeping the Kura open would avoid trying to place these students in other educational options, some of which might have already excluded the Kura's students. 31. Keeping the Kura open will attract further media interest. This is also the case should the Kura be closed and is somewhat mitigated by the ongoing proactive release of documents relating to decision making on this Kura. Financial Implications 32. 33. 34. The Crown will be liable to make two further quarterly payments of $412,148 each (e'xjcl GST), even if the remediation work is unsuccessful. However should the Kura close, it' is likely that considerable expenditure will be required to transition and provide ongoing support to the students. This is no different should the students be in mainstream schooling and faii to achieve. A further audit wiil liker cost the same as the Specialist Audit already completed: $75,000 (excl GST). been) 0W Consultation 35. The Ministry has consulted with its Legal Services team in preparing this report. Release of Information 3'6; 37. Due to thehigh level of public interest, you have previously released the following documents in relation to this matter. in addition to the original application and associated documentation and advice: 0 The Ministry's advice ieading up to issuance or the Performance Notice - The ERO readiness review; I o' The Performance Notice; 0 The Sponsor?s and Curriculum Action Plan. It is inevitable that further information requests will be received about this development. It is therefore recommended that you agree to proactively release the foliovving documents, with appropriate redaCtions; on a date or dates to be agreed with your office: I This and the previous Education Report 921078]; The Specialist Audit report; a The correspondence between you, the Ministry. and the Trust Board; The Remedial Plan if prepared, and/or the termination notice if the Remedial Plan is not prepared or not accepted.