The findings were released by the Office of the Auditor General in a report to the Secretary for Education, covering school audits completed in the 12 months to 31 October 2025.
Most relate to the 2024 financial year. The report shows a ‘marked increase in issues involving sensitive expenditure’ especially spending that lacked a ‘clear business purpose’.
A significant proportion of concerns centred on the professional coaching and wellbeing funding available to principals.
Under collective agreements, principals could access up to $6,000 in both 2023 and 2024 for professional development or wellbeing support intended to build leadership capability. Although paid through school operations funding, the money was tagged for that purpose.
The report said about one third of the concerning cases involved domestic or international travel.
Examples included schools paying for stopovers without business justification, flights for spouses or family, premium economy upgrades, koru club memberships without evidence of benefit, and tourist excursions such as scenic train rides and boat cruises.
Haeata Community Campus in Christchurch was included in the report. The school spent $18,500 on a trip to Queenstown for its Senior Leadership Team, partly from the 2023 and 2024 coaching and wellbeing allocation, to visit a local school that is part of the Private Public Partnership network and as a team building opportunity.
Spending included about $10,000 on accommodation and $6,000 on meals, drinks, and tourist activities in Queenstown.
The school did not provide enough evidence that all spending incurred as part of the trip had a clear business purpose the report said.
Haeata principal Peggy Burrows has been approached for comment.
Schools across the country were also criticised:
• Coley Street School paid $12,000 for the principal and spouse to attend a four day conference in Vancouver without receipts to show the spending met public sector expectations.
• Cannington School spent $5,000 on an overseas trip for the principal and spouse without a documented business purpose, and breached the law by failing to keep proper accounting records.
• Solway School spent $4,251 for the principal and family to travel to Fiji in a way auditors said was inconsistent with public sector expectations.
• Glenview School in Hamilton spent $29,458 on travel to Canada, Vietnam and Samoa. While parts were consistent with school strategy, auditors found insufficient evidence of a business purpose for all spending.
• Marton Junction School spent $9,156 on principal travel to Rarotonga and French Polynesia without adequate receipts or justification.
• Te Paina School spent $11,440 on travel for the principal and family, with family reimbursements still outstanding at audit time.
• Netherton School spent $15,928 sending the principal and partner to a conference in Las Vegas, including a stopover in San Francisco and tourist activities.
• Ngutuawa School incurred $9,327 in international travel without following its own financial controls.
• Apanui School reimbursed $9,000 to a former principal for a Europe trip with no receipts, no board approval, and breaches of record keeping laws.
• Bulls School spent $9,434 on travel to Rarotonga for the principal with no documented business purpose.
• Oturu School spent $4,369 on Queenstown travel for the principal and a companion with no evidence of business need.
A significant number of cases involved travel framed as research into indigenous education, but still failed basic accountability tests.
• Fairfield College spent $17,155 on principal travel to Alaska and Canada to study indigenous education challenges. Auditors raised concerns over an additional $2,900 spent on accommodation and stopovers in Hawai‘i and New York, plus tourist activities, none of which had documented business justification.
• Fraser High School spent $9,334 on similar research travel to Alaska and Canada, with auditors again finding insufficient evidence that spending during stopovers or tourist activities had a valid business purpose.
• Saint Mary’s School in Palmerston North paid $11,198 for travel to Rome with stopovers in Singapore and Thailand, with no documented educational or leadership purpose.
• Henderson Intermediate spent $8,527 on overseas travel for two principals without receipts or ministry concurrence.
• Puketapu School spent $2,620 on travel and hospitality for the principal and family with no link to school objectives.
• Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Te Tonga o Hokianga spent $6,000 on a personal trip to Turkey for the principal with no business purpose, and later donated a school van at a loss of $29,994.
• Glenfield College made an $11,035 payment to the family of a former principal after his death, which included unspent coaching funds.
The Auditor General said he was pleased the Ministry of Education had now begun a schools accountability project, noting that many schools, especially smaller ones, had expressed concern about the administrative demands of financial reporting.
Broadcaster Chris Lynch is an award winning journalist who also produces Christchurch news and video content for domestic and international companies. This article was originally published by Chris Lynch Media and is published here with kind permission.
A significant proportion of concerns centred on the professional coaching and wellbeing funding available to principals.
Under collective agreements, principals could access up to $6,000 in both 2023 and 2024 for professional development or wellbeing support intended to build leadership capability. Although paid through school operations funding, the money was tagged for that purpose.
The report said about one third of the concerning cases involved domestic or international travel.
Examples included schools paying for stopovers without business justification, flights for spouses or family, premium economy upgrades, koru club memberships without evidence of benefit, and tourist excursions such as scenic train rides and boat cruises.
Haeata Community Campus in Christchurch was included in the report. The school spent $18,500 on a trip to Queenstown for its Senior Leadership Team, partly from the 2023 and 2024 coaching and wellbeing allocation, to visit a local school that is part of the Private Public Partnership network and as a team building opportunity.
Spending included about $10,000 on accommodation and $6,000 on meals, drinks, and tourist activities in Queenstown.
The school did not provide enough evidence that all spending incurred as part of the trip had a clear business purpose the report said.
Haeata principal Peggy Burrows has been approached for comment.
Schools across the country were also criticised:
• Coley Street School paid $12,000 for the principal and spouse to attend a four day conference in Vancouver without receipts to show the spending met public sector expectations.
• Cannington School spent $5,000 on an overseas trip for the principal and spouse without a documented business purpose, and breached the law by failing to keep proper accounting records.
• Solway School spent $4,251 for the principal and family to travel to Fiji in a way auditors said was inconsistent with public sector expectations.
• Glenview School in Hamilton spent $29,458 on travel to Canada, Vietnam and Samoa. While parts were consistent with school strategy, auditors found insufficient evidence of a business purpose for all spending.
• Marton Junction School spent $9,156 on principal travel to Rarotonga and French Polynesia without adequate receipts or justification.
• Te Paina School spent $11,440 on travel for the principal and family, with family reimbursements still outstanding at audit time.
• Netherton School spent $15,928 sending the principal and partner to a conference in Las Vegas, including a stopover in San Francisco and tourist activities.
• Ngutuawa School incurred $9,327 in international travel without following its own financial controls.
• Apanui School reimbursed $9,000 to a former principal for a Europe trip with no receipts, no board approval, and breaches of record keeping laws.
• Bulls School spent $9,434 on travel to Rarotonga for the principal with no documented business purpose.
• Oturu School spent $4,369 on Queenstown travel for the principal and a companion with no evidence of business need.
A significant number of cases involved travel framed as research into indigenous education, but still failed basic accountability tests.
• Fairfield College spent $17,155 on principal travel to Alaska and Canada to study indigenous education challenges. Auditors raised concerns over an additional $2,900 spent on accommodation and stopovers in Hawai‘i and New York, plus tourist activities, none of which had documented business justification.
• Fraser High School spent $9,334 on similar research travel to Alaska and Canada, with auditors again finding insufficient evidence that spending during stopovers or tourist activities had a valid business purpose.
• Saint Mary’s School in Palmerston North paid $11,198 for travel to Rome with stopovers in Singapore and Thailand, with no documented educational or leadership purpose.
• Henderson Intermediate spent $8,527 on overseas travel for two principals without receipts or ministry concurrence.
• Puketapu School spent $2,620 on travel and hospitality for the principal and family with no link to school objectives.
• Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Te Tonga o Hokianga spent $6,000 on a personal trip to Turkey for the principal with no business purpose, and later donated a school van at a loss of $29,994.
• Glenfield College made an $11,035 payment to the family of a former principal after his death, which included unspent coaching funds.
The Auditor General said he was pleased the Ministry of Education had now begun a schools accountability project, noting that many schools, especially smaller ones, had expressed concern about the administrative demands of financial reporting.
Broadcaster Chris Lynch is an award winning journalist who also produces Christchurch news and video content for domestic and international companies. This article was originally published by Chris Lynch Media and is published here with kind permission.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for joining the discussion. Breaking Views welcomes respectful contributions that enrich the debate. Please ensure your comments are not defamatory, derogatory or disruptive. We appreciate your cooperation.