16/01/2025
John Wilson
[FYI request #29349 email]
Tēnā koe John
OIA: 1340666 – Information concerning the approval of Mastery Schools New Zealand –
Arapaki charter school application
Thank you for your email of 27 November 2024 to the Charter School Agency (the CSA)
requesting the following information:
I am writing to request the following information regarding the recent PR announcement by
the ACT Party, as reproduced by the Stuff website "First new charter school given green
light, 2025 opening", concerning the approval of "Mastery Schools New Zealand – Arapaki"
as one of the first charter schools:
1. All communications (including emails, letters, meeting records, etc.) between David
Seymour or his office and representatives of the Charter School Agency concerning
Mastery Schools New Zealand—Arapaki, including communications related to any press
release.
2. A copy of any application submitted by Mastery Schools Australia or Mastery Schools
New Zealand to the Charter School Agency for consideration as a charter school
provider.
3. All correspondence (including emails, letters, or other written communication) between
the Charter School Agency and representatives of Mastery Schools New Zealand or
Mastery Schools Australia.
4. A copy of any assessment report related to the application by Mastery Schools New
Zealand or Mastery Schools Australia, including any evaluations, recommendations, or
reviews conducted by the Charter School Agency or other involved bodies.
5. A breakdown of the total cost associated with the establishment of Mastery Schools New
Zealand – Arapaki
Your request has been considered under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act) and numbered
for the purposes of responding.
Charter School Agency, 1 The Terrace, Mezzanine floor, Wellington 6011
PO Box 1666, Wellingon 6140 Phone: +64 4 463 8000 Fax: +64 4 463 8001
charterschools.govt.nz
The CSA needs to extend the timeframe for responding to
part one of your request, pursuant to
section 15A(1)(b) of the Act, as consultations necessary to make a decision on the request are
such that a proper response cannot reasonably be made within the original time limit. You can now
expect to receive a response to this part of your request on or before Friday 21 February 2025,
which is an extension of 25 working days.
I am refusing
parts two to five of your request under section 18(a) of the Act, that by virtue of the
following sections of the Act, there is good reason for withholding the information:
• 9(2)(a), to protect the privacy of natural persons.
• 9(2)(b)(ii), to protect information where the making available of the information would be
likely unreasonably to prejudice the commercial position of the person who supplied or who
is the subject of the information.
• 9(2)(ba)(ii), to protect information which is subject to an obligation of confidence, where the
making available of the information would be likely otherwise to damage the public interest.
In relation to part three, as your request pertains to the approval of Mastery Schools charter school
application, I have excluded as out of scope of
this part of your request, any correspondence with
Mastery Schools which is of an administrative nature only, as well as any general correspondence
sent to all charter school applicants, including Mastery Schools New Zealand.
As required under section 9(1) of the Act, I have considered the public interest in releasing the
information withheld. I do not consider the public interest considerations favouring the release of
this information are sufficient to outweigh the need to withhold it at this time.
Thank you again for your email. You have the right to ask an Ombudsman to review my decision
on your request, in accordance with section 28 of the Act. You can do this by writing to
[email address] or to Office of the Ombudsman, PO Box 10152, Wellington 6143.
Nāku noa, nā
Duane McKibben
Head of Business Strategy and Services
Charter School Agency
OIA: 1340666
charterschools.govt.nz
