Part 2: Gloriavale School – A Marathon and a finish line??

Opinion piece: Liz Gregory.

(Thoughts, opinions and views expressed here belong to Liz Gregory and may or may not represent the views of the Gloriavale Leavers’ Support Trust, former or current members of Gloriavale.).

Part Two: Gloriavale School – The never-ending marathon and could the decision be overturned?

I will liken the last 6 years of advocacy relating to the appalling education the children in Gloriavale were receiving to a gruelling marathon.  Have you ever been in a race where you think the finish line is closer than you realise, so you start out a bit too fast, only to realise it’s a long race…? There were times we slowed down to a plod, at other times people came along and joined in (it’s always better running in a pack). We thought the finish line was near on a few occasions, so we’d speed up and spurt of energy would come over us, we’d go up hills and down dales, carry burdens, share burdens and offload burdens. There were times we would rest (and hope that someone would carry us on their backs and do the hard part), but there was always energy to pick up again as the finish line approached. BUT, there were too many times we thought we’d got close to the finish line, when some (usually well-intentioned) rescuer would pick up the pick up the finish line and move it down the road!

SIX YEARS.  

Can we finally collapse over the line? Is it done? Is it true? Are the children at Gloriavale really going to have a better education soon?

The Secretary of Education has declared it. It must be true..

But the only definite things around here is not just death and taxes. It’s Gloriavale’s uncanny ability to pull out a solution out of thin air, reform, morph, find an ally and live another day.

They had been praying and fasting that God would find a miracle – and they must have encouraged with Howard’s prison van turn-around the week previous.

Something else predictable was Gloriavale’s announcement they would be challenging the decision to close the school.

Media Statement from Gloriavale:

“Gloriavale Christian School is deeply disappointed by the Ministry of Education’s decision to cancel our registration as a private school. We believe this decision is unjust and does not reflect the significant efforts we have made to address concerns raised.
The position taken by the Ministry is not accepted and will be challenged.
We will not be making any further comments.”

Listen up to this RNZ clip where I speak about this issue.

Ministry of Education response:

Andrea Williams (Acting Leader South) from the Ministry of Education said there were no avenues for the school to challenge the decision under the Education and Training Act. She also said,

“We can’t comment on other possible avenues of appeal the school might be considering.”

What’s the chance of Gloriavale overturning the decision?

Pretty slim I would think. The only avenue they would be likely to consider is something called a judicial review. This is a process where you can request the High Court of NZ to examine the lawfulness of the decision-making process, not whether the decision itself was “right”.

The Court would ask whether the Ministry of Education acted within its statutory powers, or followed proper process and natural justice, or relied on relevant evidence, or made a decision that was reasonable in law.

It would not re-hear the merits of whether the school should be open.

Only if the Court found there was a serious legal flaw could the court overturn the decision. In fact it cannot even make its own decision to keep the school open. They would just send it back to the Ministry to be reconsidered lawfully. They could just make the same decision again, if they corrected the legal defect.

Chat GPT analysis!

So out of curiosity I went to Chat GPT (just for fun) to see whether it thought there would be any merits in Gloriavale attempting a judicial review.

It said this:

Factors that matter a lot here

From what has already been referenced in other work:

• Long duration of concerns (raised years earlier)
• Multiple investigations and reviews
• Careful evidential build-up
• Statutory obligations relating to child safety and education standards

All of these significantly reduce the likelihood of a successful review.

Judicial review is weakest where:

• the decision followed extensive consultation
• the regulator acted cautiously and incrementally
• there is a strong public interest (especially children’s welfare)

Bottom line is success would require proving a legal or procedural flaw, not disagreement

So there is it folks. It’s looking increasingly likely the school will close.

But as one leaver said, I’ll believe it when I see it.

(Ps I asked Chat GPT how reliable Chat GPT thinks Chat GPT is, and it said:

“ChatGPT is like an over-caffeinated intern with a law degree from the internet: brilliant at sounding right, but you still check its work before putting your name on it.”

I then went back to Chat GPT and asked it to create me an image of that intern ….

PS. Gloriavale bans caffeinated coffee. It is a sin.

PPS. I have never drunk coffee

Read Part Three to find out why the school deserves to be closed, and whether it was built to fail.