The chairman of the Wakatipu High School Foundation says there's "no reason'' not to accept funding from overseas land purchasers.
The Otago Daily Times reported in March a condition of Overseas Investment Office (OIO) approval of the purchase of a 19ha section at Malaghans Rd, near Arrowtown, by Glenorchy Homestead Ltd was the company made a $100,000 donation to the high school.
That money went to the school's foundation, established mid-2013, to be given to the school over two years.
It would be used to help fund digital devices for pupils.
The school introduced a "Bring Your Own Device'' policy this year, but recognised for many families it would be a challenge to afford a device, particularly if parents had more than one child at the school.
A letter from principal Steve Hall to the OIO, released to the Labour Party under the Official Information Act, said the cheapest device which met specifications cost $500.
Of the 850 pupils at the school, a total of 30% would need financial help to buy a device.
In total, 43 pupils would need the entire cost covered, 85 would need 60% of the cost covered and another 128 would need 40% of funding assistance.
Additionally, about $30,000 was needed for staff training to "provide the best possible learning experiences for pupils'', the letter said.
Yesterday, foundation chairman Mark Taylor told the ODT it was the first time the school had looked to overseas investors to help provide funding for the school.
He believed WHS was one of 15 schools in New Zealand to have received a donation as a condition of OIO approval.
"Under the last government, they widened the 'available benefit to New Zealand' [criteria]. It used to be strictly economic and when they changed the Overseas Investment Act, to start with I think there were a lot of environmental projects.
"But we see that an educational donation is no less important that an environmentally-based project.''
Mr Taylor said the school, as a decile 10 school, did not qualify for government assistance.
The decile rating had little to do with the wealth of families with children at the school, he said.
"It has a bunch of [factors]. The biggest thing that works against us is land values.''
Further, school "donations'' were far less than other decile 10 schools in New Zealand, and the collection rate was lower.
To date, the foundation has raised more than $1 million for the school.
