Opinion: Our tough decision on Atlas

I want to acknowledge the effort Wakatipu Community Trust put into its application to open a new charter school in Queenstown. The Board recognises the strength of the Trust’s proposal and the vision it outlined for students and their communities.

The Board was impressed by the level of community passion and support for this proposal. So why didn’t it get across the line?

The simple truth is although it was a great application, the Board received 52 applications for new charter schools this year, leaving it in the unenviable position of having to decline strong candidates.

The Wakatipu Community Trust’s application was of a high standard and the case it made for a new school in Queenstown was credible and compelling. However, it was one of many high calibre applications.

The quality of proposals means our task is not one of separating strong applications from weak ones, but choosing between sponsors who have all demonstrated capability, vision and convincing community support. This means some excellent applications won’t be approved, not because of shortcomings in their quality, but because of the limited number of places available and the difficult trade-offs that have to be made.

As the Board moves through the application process, it will continue to face the same difficult decisions, and it recognises there will be disappointed applicants.

What is heartening is that the high-quality applications the Board receives demonstrates there is real support and commitment to providing different educational opportunities for our country's young people.

The strong response we’ve received to establishing new charter schools clearly indicates that families and communities are signalling that one size doesn’t fit all in education, that existing options don’t meet all students’ needs and that charter schools offer more choice, flexibility and innovation in education.

Declining a worthy application is never easy. We hope the Wakatipu Community Trust remains engaged in future opportunities as the charter school network grows.