Charter school vows to stay open

A north Auckland charter school will do everything it can to remain open in light of the Government’s announcement to close charter schools, Albany’s Vanguard Military School chief executive says.

Announced by Education Minister Chris Hipkins on February 8, the Education Amendment Bill proposes to scrap national standards along with charter schools.

The bill includes provision for existing charter schools to operate under their contracts while the ministry discusses possible options, including in the state system, on a case-by-case basis.

Charter school operators wanting to be involved in education could apply to establish another form of school, such as a designated character school, Hipkins said.

Charter schools met with ministry officials on February 13.

Vanguard Military School chief executive Nick Hyde said while there were a ‘‘number of steps to work through’’, he remained committed to working with the ministry for a good outcome.

‘‘I’m very confident that we’ll be able to get a solution that is a win for the students and parents who are involved with Vanguard.’’

He said the school had no wish to close and would be doing ‘‘everything’’ it could to make sure that didn’t eventuate.

While he expected changes under the new Government, he said the announcement was disappointing in light of the planned negotiations on February 13, which been scheduled to take place since last year.

Albany mother Melissa, whose son is in his second year at Vanguard, said she feared her son may not even finish school if Vanguard was to close.

She said the pastoral care, sense of accountability and responsibility had culminated in him taking real pride in his school, and had also seen him expand his sense of what was possible in his future.

He was now talking about going to university, she said.

Teachers, parents, politicians and students – including some from Vanguard – marched down Queen St in Auckland on February 11 in protest at the announcement.

Vanguard has a full roll of 192 students. There are 11 charter schools in New Zealand.

PHOTO: SIMON MAUDE/STUFF ACT leader and Epsom MP David Seymour marches with charter school supporters protesting the Labour Government’s proposed charter school policy.