Kahu Youth has agreed to take over Central Otago Reap’s One Day School (ODS) programme for gifted intermediate-aged schoolchildren in Wānaka from January 2025.
Central Otago Reap, a not-for-profit education organisation, has been supporting gifted children’s learning in Wānaka and Alexandra for 18 years.
It announced it would withdraw from ODS at the end of 2023, because it wanted to support other education projects.
However, it agreed to continue for one more year while the communities worked on solutions to continue ODS.
"We did it to help out.
"We have already done that for Mint [another special needs group].
"If we can share resources, we will share them," Mr Dobbs said.
Kahu Youth recently moved into new premises at Paetara Aspiring in Reece Crescent and had spent many months learning how youth wanted to use the facility before deciding on a fitout.
ODS teacher Danielle Nicholson was already teaching from the premises and working with Kahu Youth on plans for 2025 and beyond.
Kahu Youth would "take care" of her contract, Mr Dobbs said.
He was not keen to talk about finances yet but said "we have it under control".
He hoped to announce more about that in a progress report later this year.
Mr Dobbs said he had also met CO Reap manager Bernice Lepper to talk through the transition.
Mrs Lepper told the Wānaka Sun it was sad to be exiting ODS but the time was right for the schools to find their own solutions to meet gifted students' needs.
"We are so proud of what we have achieved ... but we have to look at other gaps in our offerings," Mrs Lepper said.
A group of principals approached CO Reap 18 years ago for help with a range of neurodiversity programmes.
It was usual to support community projects for two or three years, but the ODS funding kept going for nearly two decades.
There was now more knowledge and understanding about neurodiversity and individual students' needs, Mrs Lepper said.
She declined to reveal CO Reap’s budget for ODS, because it supported a salary and was private information.
CO Reap receives about $380,000 in Ministry of Education annual funding for a wide range of early childhood and school programmes to support whanau, teachers and learners.
Additional funding is raised through individual contracts or grants.
CO Reap chairman Doug White said the board was pleased Wānaka schools and parents saw value in providing programmes for gifted and talented learners and had developed their own options to meet these students’ needs.
"We wish them well," Mr White said.
