The foundation team — and future students — of a proposed Queenstown charter school are reeling after their application was rejected by a government board.
Parents are also upset, calling the decision a disgrace, and are seeking accountability.
Atlas High School planned to open for term one next year with 100 students and grow to 220 over two years — there were already more than 200 families on the school’s waiting list.
Liger Leadership Academy head Daniel Cooper said they were about to announce the ‘‘philanthropic gifting of land in an incredibly desirable location’’ Atlas would have opened on.
A fast-track proposal for Coronet Village includes education facilities for Liger, which would become part of Atlas, and Queenstown Grammar. The gifted land was not at that site
It is understood future Atlas students were upset when informed of the news.
Liger, established by Trevor and Agnieszka Gile in 2022, is a private school that supports students in an entrepreneurial style of learning.
Last November, the couple signed an agreement to hand over their curriculum to Manawaroa Education, which specialises in developing charter schools, aiming to secure funding to become the region’s first such school. Atlas was not involved with Manawaroa Education.
They also announced they intended to close Liger at the end of this year — it would essentially be replaced by Atlas.
Mr Cooper said about $150,000 had been spent to date on the Atlas application and development.
However, the Atlas team was ‘‘astounded’’ to learn late last month, by email, the government’s Charter School Authorisation board decided not to progress it.
The email said the board ‘‘sought sponsors who demonstrated they could address an educational and community need, contribute to system diversity and grow sustainably in the model in alignment with government expectations for the charter school model, educational and community need, contribute to system diversity and grow sustainably in the model in alignment with government expectations for the charter school model (sic).’’
In his response, Mr Cooper did not hold back.
‘‘The message’s incoherent wording, vague references to matters unrelated to our application and absence of any prior engagement lead us to believe this was a mistake.
‘‘Given the strength of our submission, the decision, as communicated, is difficult to reconcile with the evidence.’’
Cooper said the rejection letter was ‘‘the first and only time’’ they heard from the board, while the Charter School Agency had only sent a few ‘‘mass emails’’ detailing changes to the timeline — the only individual communication from them was acknowledging receipt of the application in May.
The decision meant Atlas, which had already recruited half the core team for next year, could not open, while Liger would ‘‘unfortunately continue to close as planned’’.
‘‘However, I anticipate a wind-down of two years to minimise disruption for our community and students.’’
‘‘We are still working through what this will look like, but we know that Liger will sadly be closed to new enrolments at any year level.’’
It left Queenstown’s urgent need for secondary school choice unmet — once Liger closes, the only option in Queenstown will be Wakatipu High School, which is likely to reach capacity by 2027.
In his letter, Mr Cooper said Atlas represented a ‘‘low-risk, high-impact opportunity to advance a proven model of 21st century education on to the national, and perhaps international, stage in a unique public-private partnership, with immediate benefits in the Whakatipu Basin and beyond’’.
‘‘At a time when many systems still mirror the Industrial Revolution rather than the technological revolution, it would be tragic and senseless to lose this opportunity.
‘‘We seek immediate and direct contact for clarification.’’
Mr Cooper said the Atlas team believed it demonstrably exceeded the board’s criteria on every front, including financial sustainability.
The not-for-profit school was sponsored by 45South Community Foundation and the application was backed by the Giles.
The couple even offered to contractually guarantee the school’s success and reimburse all public funds if performance, attendance or enrolment metrics were not met, which Mr Cooper said completely removed the financial risk to taxpayers.
The Atlas team had set up a public forum on its website, which said the decision ‘‘hurts’’.
Several people have already expressed their dismay at the decision — many have called for it to be reviewed.
One woman said families with children starting high school in the next five years were ‘‘genuinely worried’’ about what WHS reaching capacity may mean for their education.
‘‘Atlas High School would give us the immediate capacity relief we desperately need, making sure our children can learn in an environment that isn’t overcrowded and stretched too thin,’’ one woman posted.
Trevor Gile’s post called the decision ‘‘disgraceful’’.
‘‘Unaccountable government bureaucrats ignore local needs — while implementing a programme designed to prevent unaccountable bureaucrats from ignoring local needs.’’
Charter School authorisation board chair Justine Mahon said in a statement 52 applications had been received this year to establish new charter schools.
“The board was impressed with the calibre of the unique proposals it received. The board set a high bar for applicants to succeed and went through a robust process to make its selections.
"This meant difficult decisions had to be made and the board acknowledges there will be some disappointed applicants.”
