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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-03-05 Daily Xml
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Springbank Secondary College

Dr CLOSE (Port Adelaide—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (14:08): My question is to the Minister for Education. Why the did the minister tell the media that he was considering closing Springbank Secondary College before he told parents or staff or even the principal?

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Minister for Education) (14:08): I make the point very clear: I spoke to the principal on Tuesday. I answered questions from a journalist yesterday that obviously informed the story in today's paper. When I spoke to the principal, I indicated that I was keen to meet with the school leadership and representative of the governing council, which I did this morning.

Obviously, some preparatory work has gone into preparing what option may be available to me as the minister, or indeed to us as the government, in how we can best meet the needs of students in the inner southern suburbs, how we can best meet the needs of those families, and so there has been some work done on this in recent weeks to frame up a proposal of what that would look like. But I do think that it is important to speak to schools and get the response of—

Ms Stinson: Yes, before you speak to journalists.

The SPEAKER: The member for Badcoe is interjecting. She is warned for a second and final time.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: I think that it is important to do that. We are giving serious consideration to a school review. Obviously, in the things that were talked about this morning, that was one of the proposals that was put forward for consideration. It is fair to say that the principal and the chair of the governing council had a different view on what was best going forward, and I appreciated the opportunity to talk through that with them. I will obviously now be looking very seriously at the proposal that is in front of us in giving consideration to whether a review or whether business as usual is an option.

One of the positive things about the way the legislation is written in relation to school reviews is that it provides a legislative framework where the whole community's views can be taken into account: a three-month time frame, a process where there are views of the schools potentially impacted in a school review, the communities impacted, the local councils and indeed, as a result of the fact that our legislature remains as it was in relation to this, also the education union. All these stakeholders have a voice in the review, and the process is one that gives the community a voice too.

I recall, in relation to how these reviews work, the ones I am most familiar with are the ones where there were proposals to remove the junior primary schools in 2011-12 in my local area. There were a number of these reviews proposed at the same time. Some of them agreed with the proposition put forward and, indeed, those junior primary schools were closed. Some of them, certainly Stradbroke Junior Primary, disagreed with the proposal put forward, but nevertheless the government of the day made the decision having had that review—but they had the opportunity to explore the different arrangements that were in place.

I believe that in relation to one of those reviews back in 2011-12 there was a proposition put forward by the review panel that was different from the original proposition, and the then Labor government agreed with the review panel and did not proceed with the closure as suggested. The point I am making is that a school review process is actually a very good process in which to engage with the community to flush out and flesh out all potential arrangements that might be available. What we would be seeking if there was a review, one very simple and important thing, is how we best meet the needs of students in this school, students in this community. That is behind anything, any decision that is to be made.

There is no driving budget motive here. It is purely a focus on the educational needs of the students. We will ensure that in any determination that is made that is our driving factor and that the needs of those students in this school, in this community—indeed, the needs of students in the primary schools in the local area who are looking at where they are going to go to high school—are met.

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