New Specialist School for Complex Needs Students to Open in Gisborne by 2028

A new specialist school for students with complex needs in Gisborne will open in the next two years, the first of its kind in the region, Education Minister Erica Stanford announced today.

I’m delighted to announce that we’re building a new specialist school in Gisborne. This is the third specialist school I have announced in the last 12 months, the first two being in Dury and Palmerston North.

Currently, there is no specialist school serving Gisborne, Wairoa and the wider Tairāwhiti region. This leaves a significant gap in local support for students with high and complex needs in the region.

We aim to have the new school ready for students by Term 1, 2028, to support the learning needs of up to 54 students, says Ms Stanford.

This addresses a critical gap in the Gisborne | Tairāwhiti region, where the nearest specialist school is currently more than 200km away in Napier, says Ms Stanford.

We’ve listened to parents and the local community, and we know how important it is to provide local options for children with high and complex needs. These students deserve fit-for-purpose classrooms where they can learn and thrive, says Ms Stanford.

The specialist school will have four teaching spaces plus additional resourcing and administration space. Alongside the base specialist school, an extra two satellite teaching spaces will be provided on the shared school site of Te Wharau School and Ilminster Intermediate School, Inner Kaiti, Gisborne.

The three specialist schools announced over the past two years are the first to be built in New Zealand in nearly 50 years.

For years, specialist schools suffered from a lack of investment, and families and young people were left with buildings that weren’t fit for purpose or had to travel long distances to get to a school that catered for their needs.

This Government has committed nearly $295 million over the past two years to expand capacity and upgrade facilities for students who are learning in specialist settings.

We have funded an additional 122 specialist classrooms including two new specialist schools announced earlier this year. Today’s announcement brings that to three new specialist schools, we are also upgrading six existing specialist schools.

We have invested $90 million into learning support modifications, including those for students with access needs in mainstream schools.

We are backing choice in education for those families who need access to specialist services so that their children can thrive.

Applications to take part opened on 14 May 2026 and closed on 12 June 2026. The Government received 49 applications, identified 25 for closer assessment, and shortlisted six communities before selecting the three groups named above.

Although the original intent was to select one or two groups for the first round of Community-led Commissioning, the response from communities was so strong that Ministers chose to move forward with three applications.