Class falling apart

By Nicole Williams
FLOODING classrooms, leaking roofs and peeling floor coverings are part of the daily grind for students and teachers at Keysborough Secondary College.
Principal Heather Lindsay said half the school had been rebuilt in the last two years, but the remainder was lagging far behind.
“We’ve got fantastic facilities but for only half the school,” she said.
“The other half is run down and not fit for purpose.”
“It means that we’re providing the curriculum for students in less than desirable conditions.”
Ms Lindsay said that since 2009, the college building program to rebuild the junior and senior villages might have cost up to $30 million but the specialist facilities, like science and arts classrooms were not good enough.
“They’re just not up to scratch,” she said.
“It’s guttering, downpipes, floor coverings, leaking roofs and after a big downpour some classrooms are flooded out completely.”
“There are a lot of little things that add up to a huge amount.”
Last week, a Herald Sun Freedom of Information investigation revealed the Springvale South school had 770 faults, which would cost close to $2.5 million to repair.
“We would like the college building program to continue so the whole of the school is renewed, rather than spend a large amount of money patching up old facilities,” Ms Lindsay said.
“We’re not unhappy with everything because our junior and senior villages are fantastic.”
Education Minister Martin Dixon has announced a full audit of the condition of building in every government school across Victoria. “The audit has two purposes – to better direct maintenance funding to urgent projects, and to give principals the information they need to better direct their annual maintenance funding,” Mr Dixon said.
“The government understands that principals know their schools best and this audit will provide them with another tool to make decisions on maintenance work that addresses the needs of the school community.”
The audit began this week and is expected to be completed by May next year.