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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2019-03-20 Daily Xml
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Eastern Fleurieu School, Strathalbyn

The Hon. C. BONAROS (14:35): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Treasurer, representing the Minister for Education, a question about school overcrowding.

Leave granted.

The Hon. C. BONAROS: Our Centre Alliance colleague, Rebekha Sharkie, recently briefed me on a case involving overcrowding at an Adelaide Hills high school. Eastern Fleurieu School's campus at Strathalbyn is the school in question and it is said to have outgrown its current infrastructure and requires immediate action.

The campus is supposed to cater for 675 year 7 to 12 students, but there are currently 800 students enrolled. Over summer, students were taught outside in the extreme heat, a situation the governing council has called a safety risk. To compound that, up to four classes at a time are expected to share the resource centre and the school's open-plan library is constantly packed with three classes, including year 12 study groups.

Rebekha told me the state government has recognised the school's concerns and has committed to providing two modular buildings to create an extra four classrooms from the start of term 2. However, the concern is that this will not address either the short-term or long-term needs of both students and teachers. My questions to the Treasurer for the Minister for Education are:

1. What are the government's long-term plans for the school and interim plans for the rapidly rising number of students?

2. What immediate steps is the government taking to address the safety and wellbeing of students to ensure their current situation does not have a negative impact on their future education pathways?

3. What further assistance is the government providing to EFS's staff to ensure they are able to create a high-quality learning environment under these obviously trying and undesirable conditions?

4. Why wasn't the EFS (only one of the few secondary schools in the region) identified as a high-demand school as part of the government's announcement last month of a $65 million capital works funding commitment for high-demand schools?

5. Is the government intending to release a second round of funding to assist with capital works for regional SA and is the Eastern Fleurieu School on that list?

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (14:38): I am happy to take the substance of the questions on notice and seek a reply from the Minister for Education, but I would make just a couple of brief points. If indeed, and I have no reason to doubt the accuracy of the numbers, those figures are correct, it is a sad statement on 16 years of neglect by the former Labor government that the sort of sensible long-term planning that should have been undertaken clearly—if those numbers are correct, they wouldn't have occurred overnight—hasn't occurred. As I said, if those numbers are correct, and I have no reason to doubt them, then it is a sad statement on 16 years of neglect by the former Labor government in relation to the issue.

In relation to the issue as to why the school wasn't included in the other high-demand schools, the minister will be able to correct me if I am wrong in relation to this but I suspect the other schools were schools in the metropolitan area that were high schools, which are about to have additional year 7 components added to them because of the decision to add year 7 to secondary schools by 2022 like every other state and territory in the nation has.

My understanding is that Eastern Fleurieu is an area school, so that is not an issue that will relate specifically to Eastern Fleurieu because it already has year 7 students in it. There might be some greater impact (and this is where the minister and his greater knowledge and his department's greater knowledge applies) in relation to feeder primary schools and to where they might feed year 7 students, and that may or may not impact further on Eastern Fleurieu—I acknowledge that. With those brief comments, I am happy to take the substance of the questions, refer them to the minister and bring back a reply.

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