Te Whanau a Apanui wants to align the education systems at three of its Bay of Plenty schools and have only one Board of Trustees for them all.
The iwi says student numbers at Raukorere School, Te Kura o Omaio and Te Whanau a Apanui Area School have halved since 2000.
Education spokesperson Willie Te Aho says it has a solution to boost the rolls and achieve a 100% student pass rate at the schools, which are within a 46 kilometre radius.
He says the plan is to have one school timetable across the tribal territory, with teachers teaching across the three school sites during alternate semesters.
Mr Te Aho says having one Board of Trustees for the sites will be more efficient.
The tribe also wants to contract external teaching expertise and to increase the use of technology.
The plans are with the Crown and are to be finalised by May.