Moerewa School's board of trustees is to be reinstated in May, more than two years after its trustees were sacked and a commissioner installed by Education Minister Hekia Parata.
While the news has been welcomed in Moerewa, a leading principal has slammed as "absolutely criminal" that the school had to pay a commissioner close to $200,000 as a result of the Ministry's intervention.
The board was dismissed in April 2012 after the school refused to close a senior unit catering for 17 Year 11-13 students.
Their parents did not want to send them to Bay of Islands College but the school was only authorised to teach Years 1-10.
Commissioner Mike Eru has been in charge of the school since then. The Ministry's acting head of sector enablement, Jill Bond, said an election had been set for May 19. The new trustees would take up their positions on May 26, when Mr Eru's appointment ended.