Integrating schools into the state system

Find information about integrating school property into the state system, including an overview of minimum property standards required.

Schools integrating their property into the state system will be required to follow the Ministry’s guidelines, minimum standard requirements and adhere to Schedule 6 of the Education and Training Act 2020. 

• Integrating school property into the state system
• Minimum property standards for integrated schools
• Further information

Integrating school property into the state system

State-integrated schools are former private schools that have become part of the state system. They receive some government funding to maintain and modernise the integrated school buildings. They differ from other state schools in that:

• a private entity, the ‘proprietor’, owns the school buildings and land and is responsible for ensuring the buildings meet Ministry standards
• integrated schools usually charge compulsory ‘attendance dues’.

Schedule 6 of the Education and Training Act 2020 governs the integration of private schools.

Entering into an Integration Agreement

When a private school integrates into the state system, the proprietor enters into an Integration Agreement with the Minister of Education.

• The Integration Agreement records the integration terms and conditions, including the property to be integrated.
• The Minister and proprietor may agree that the school’s maximum roll will grow over a number of years. In this case, the amount of integrated property will need to be increased proportionally.

Integration up to School Property Guide (SPG) entitlement

Property will only be integrated if it's needed to meet the curriculum and to avoid overcrowding. We'll only integrate property up to the school’s School Property Guide (SPG) entitlement. This means that some integrated schools may have both integrated and non-integrated property. Proprietors can provide more or less property than the SPG entitlement. However, they must ensure it:

• complies with safety standards
• allows the curriculum to be delivered.

SPG entitlements — School Property Guide

Changing the amount of integrated property

After integration, proprietors may wish to change the amount of integrated property through new capital works, demolition or roll growth.

To make any such changes they must:

• get our approval before starting work if it will increase the school’s property. This ensures it will be integrated, if the property still comes within their SPG entitlement.
• get our agreement in a Supplementary Integration Agreement, signed after the project has been completed when final dimensions are known.

Ministry record keeping

We'll update our property management information in our asset management application (K2) when the amount of property at the school changes. We use this information to calculate the maintenance funding we provide to the board. 

Information recorded in the Integration Agreement and any supplementary agreements, must match data recorded in K2.

Minimum property standards for integrated schools

Under Schedule 6, clause 39(2) of the Education and Training Act 2020, property covered by an Integration Agreement must meet minimum standards to ensure it

• is safe
• is in a fit state of repair
• meets all statutory, regulatory and Ministry design standards.

When a school becomes state-integrated we may identify work required to bring its land and buildings up to minimum state standards. The Integration Agreement will list this work in the Third Schedule.

Following integration we may also ask the proprietor to do other work to maintain minimum standards.

At a minimum the proprietor and the board must be sure that:

• buildings with specified systems have a current Building Warrant for Fitness (BWOF)
• a hazard management process is in place. The board is responsible for identifying, eliminating, isolating and/or minimising hazards. The proprietor is responsible for capital work to remedy a hazard
• an appropriate professional consultant, such as an engineer or architect, designs and certifies all structural additions and alterations. We require certification for this work
• the school has a long-term property plan and implements it effectively. Integrated schools can use our 10-year property planning process if they choose. For more information, refer to our Integrated schools property planning page.

Last reviewed: 19 March 2021 Has this been useful? Give us your feedback