The youth charity trust which launched what amounts to a hostile takeover bid for a prominent Auckland state school says it has withdrawn its application due to mounting public pressure and concern for the safety of its students.
Bangerz Education and Wellbeing Trust (BEWT), lodged a proposal to the Charter School Agency to convert Kelston Boys’ High School into a charter school from term one 2026.
The controversial bid sparked a public outcry after the school’s acting principal Dan Samuelu announced the school did not support it and had concerns about the trust’s ability to work with the community.
The proposal bid was spearheaded by Siaosi Gavet, the school’s former board chair and co-founder of Bangerz Trust. He confirmed today in an interview for TVNZ+ that the bid has been dropped.
The small charity that tried to take over a state school – Watch on TVNZ+
“Yes, there’s been some hate here and there and that’s natural, particularly for communities where there’s a threat of a change,” Gavet said.
“I understand that, but there’s a lot of completely misinformed views. If [people] could just do the research and find out what it is that we’re trying to do.”
Staff have told 1News they are relieved by today’s news, and the school called it a “positive update” in a post on its Facebook page this afternoon.
Gavet has had a longstanding career in youth development and governance, previously working for the Education Ministry.
He works with Rhys Cullen, who calls himself the trust’s main tutor, providing mentoring and learning support for students from various schools out of an industrial unit in New Lynn.
Cullen is known as “Doc” by the students because he used to be one. He was a GP until he had his licence removed by the Health Practitioner’s Disciplinary Tribunal for professional misconduct in 2007.
He also has a criminal record. In 2009, he was convicted of receiving 15 stolen cars after establishing a scrap metal business. At the time, he was running a sports academy for youth.
In a debate in Parliament earlier this month, Labour’s Education Spokesperson and MP for Kelston Carmel Sepuloni challenged Associate Education Minister David Seymour on the trust’s credibility stating it was “not qualified to teach children”.
Sepuloni further questioned Seymour on whether the Bangerz Trust was an “appropriate group to be trusted with the care and wellbeing of young people”.
Jane Lee, chief executive of the Charter School Agency, confirmed today the trust has withdrawn its application. She said: “Kelston Boys’ High School, Bangerz Education and Wellbeing Trust, and the Charter School Agency will work together to complete this process.”
Gavet says he’s now launching a new application to create the trust’s own charter school from scratch next year, following a previous failed attempt.
Support from some students
There is support for the trust, and Cullen, among some in the school community.
In a TVNZ+ InDepth story on the Bangerz Trust, several Kelston Boys High School students say they’ve gained extra NCEA credits with Cullen’s support, through externally approved NCEA provider Te Kura.
“When I was in school I was kind of struggling and then I came here and Doc [Cullen] helped me, and my credits started coming in and I completed my NCEA level 1,” said one Year 11 student.
“We’re getting the most help we can over here. I mean, if weren’t for our Doc, I don’t think we would be anywhere near where we are right now,” said another Kelston Boys High School student. He said he was preparing for an NCEA Level 1 Maths exam, despite being in Year 10.
Another student, Tyrone, said: “Doc pushed me to go to Uni and try something different.”
He is now in his first year studying towards a Bachelor of Business at AUT. “This place played a big part of my journey. Training facility, helping me get to places. Heaps of people don’t know that but Doc has helped me a lot in my journey.”
Cullen defends his record
Cullen has responded to some of the questions about his suitability.
“I don’t understand what Carmel [Sepuloni] means,” he said.
Asked if he is qualified, he said: “No, of course not.”
And Gavet added: “I don’t know if that is the right question to ask about whether we’re qualified to teach. We’re not registered teachers but we don’t need to be if we become a charter school.”
Both Cullen and Gavet said they are unsure where the MP’s claim that they are unsuited to running a school comes from.
“We’re accelerating, not just lifting, accelerating student achievement,” said Gavet. He said he has social services accreditation from the Ministry of Social Development.
When asked whether the parents of his students at Bangerz Trust were aware of his convictions, Cullen said: “Oh yeah, everyone makes them well known. And from my view, it’s great. Yeah, no, I’m quite happy about it.
“It’s also quite good because it gives me some street credibility. The boys think it’s quite, you know, whoa – we know this bad fella.”
Gavet said the trust was never given a fair chance by the public.
“We’re 24/7, 365 days of the year – there for our boys. Who does that? Who does the achievement that we’re doing? No one, but we just get blamed for things and misinformed.
“Rhys has got a heart of gold, he’d do anything for the students.”
That seems to include taking students out of school grounds without notifying schools. 1News understands Kelston Boys staff have been frustrated after Cullen recently took students to participate in a mud run challenge, out of Auckland.
“Absolutely. Oh yeah, we took the boys. It’s a very nice bundle of work [NCEA credits] for level two or level three,” said Cullen.
He said the students’ parents consented but school staff said the parents were not aware the mud run trip was not associated with or endorsed by the school.
Mount Albert Grammar School trespassed Cullen in 2023 for various reasons, including taking students out of school grounds without approval and his “combative and aggressive” behaviour with its staff.
Cullen has applied for a judicial review in the High Court but his claims were dismissed. He’s since appealed the decision.
Gavet said he backs him “one hundred percent”.
“Everything that we do is totally above board, and we just want to maximise what we’re doing with the generations behind us. We don’t have a lot to lose.”
Gavet said his message to the local community is that radical change is needed.
New powers
Recent amendments to the Education and Training Act mean the Government can now force an underperforming state school to convert to a charter school.
Minister Seymour, responding to Sepuloni in the debate on November 6, said: “There will be some state schools, which frankly, would be better off if they did convert. And this is my point: defending failing schools on ideological grounds at all costs has damaged generations of children.”
Jane Lee at the Charter School Agency said today: “We can’t comment on whether BEWT has lodged previous applications for a charter school or has lodged an application for a new charter school, as this information is commercially sensitive.
“It is not appropriate for the Charter School Agency to indicate which individuals it liaised with during the application process. Neither is it appropriate for the Charter School Agency to comment on activities at the BEWT Hub in Auckland, or any staff employed by BEWT.”
The small charity that tried to take over a state school – Watch on TVNZ+
