An independent primary school near Katikati is fighting for its survival after its application to become either a charter school or a state-sponsored school was declined.

According to board member Craig McCullough, Matahui School has stayed open for another year thanks to donations from parents and grandparents.

“Now we’re working on those long-term goals,” McCullough said.

Principal Mary Woods with a Matahui School student at the guardians of the forest programme.

Principal Mary Woods said the school had 49 students and four teachers who focused on holistic education grounded in the theory of multiple intelligences.

A significant number of the students were neurodiverse, although the school also catered to neurotypical learners.

“Most of our children have learning disabilities that fall under neurodiversity,” Woods said. “Dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, and dyspraxia are common.

“Everybody comes with a strength and an area they need to work on. At Matahui School, we individualise learning around each child,” Woods said.

About 75% of the school’s roll is comprised of neurodiverse students at Matahui School

Despite its $13,000 annual tuition, parent Jeff Brown said the school was often misperceived as a profit-driven institution.

“It’s not,” he said. “It’s all about values, not money.”

After returning from the UK, Brown initially hesitated to enrol his daughter at Matahui School. But after visiting, he changed his mind.

“It was beautiful to see how passionate the people and teachers were at Matahui School,” he said.

In 2024, the school applied to become a charter school, but was declined in a letter from the Charter School Authorisation Board.

“Private schools are already provided with flexibility, can innovate, and generally perform strongly on national assessments such as NCEA,” the letter read.

Woods said the board misunderstood Matahui’s unique role.

“We’re not a private school making money – we’re a not-for-profit,” she said.

After the Charter School Authorisation Board rejected Matahui School’s application, it explored becoming a state school. But McCullough said that model also proved a poor fit, especially given the lack of state resources for neurodiverse learners.

Woods argued that the current funding model for these children needed reform.

There is high needs funding and in-class support funding that can be quite restrictive, Woods said.

“We’ve got one child always funded, and another in the pipeline (to receive funding).”

However, Woods said it could be challenging to obtain any more funding.

Matahui School.

About 75% of the school’s roll is comprised of neurodiverse students, according to Woods.

“By having neurodiverse children at Matahui School, we are saving the Government money,” she said.

The school also supported several gifted students who worked beyond their age level.

In a letter to NZME, Charter School Authorisation Board chairperson Justine Mahon said a charter school could be established in two ways: either by a sponsor applying to develop a new school or a state or state-integrated school converting to charter status.

“Under the legislation, private schools can’t convert to a charter school,” Mahon said.

This means an independent school like Matahui would first have to close before a sponsor could apply to open a new charter school in its place.

Given limited funding, the Authorisation Board prioritised applications that were practical, cost-effective, and supported the long-term success of the charter school system, Mahon said.

Mahon added that while the invitation to apply went out before the board was fully formed, the selection criteria were developed with financial sustainability and diversity in mind.

“Fully funding independent schools at the same level as state schools would create a significant financial burden for the government and is unlikely to improve student achievement,” Mahon said.

Matahui School is funded through tuition fees and may also charge mandatory fees, the Ministry of Education, acting Hautū (deputy secretary) Te Tai Whenua (Central), Tracey Turner said.

The school also explored becoming a state-integrated school, Turner said.

Turner noted that all state and state-integrated schools received inclusion funding to support neurodiverse learners and could access additional resources based on student need.

Support roles within the education system – including learning support specialists, Resource Teachers: Learning and Behaviour (RTLB), and Learning Support Coordinators (LSCs) – helped schools and families.

“There are also professional development opportunities, assistive technologies, and tools that support neurodiverse learners’ access to the curriculum,” Turner said.