By CASEY NEILL
A KEYSBOROUGH school has closed its doors without warning in the latest move in a game of high stakes poker with the State Government.
The Chandler Park and Maralinga primary schools amalgamated in 2010 but have continued to operate as two campuses.
Principal Peter Paul has been waiting for funding to add 10 classrooms, a library, an art room and administration space at Chandler Park so he could bring all students and staff together.
He last month decided to ambush the Education Department by closing Maralinga before the school year started and moving all students and staff to the inadequate Chandler Park site.
“We’ll hand all the keys back to the Education Department,” he said.
Mr Paul said the move would allow the Education Department to sell the vacant Maralinga site and use the funds for Chandler Park’s $6 million re-development.
“The land is worth twice as much as we need,” he said.
“We want to finish the school.
“What happens to the other site is up to the department and the government.”
Mr Paul spoke out in the Journal last May when the cash needed didn’t appear in the 2014-’15 State Budget.
“We’re running across both campuses. We try to operate as one school. We are one school,” he said.
“That places a strain on planning. That places a strain on time.
“This is not the proverbial elastic band. We’re not just going to be stretched and stretched and hoping something happens.”
Last Wednesday Keysborough MP Martin Pakula told teachers that he’d follow through on his $500,000 pre-election promise for architectural planning work.
“For the first time, the glass is half full, and that’s the way we should be approaching the whole process,” Mr Paul said.
“Seeing it become a reality will be a wonderful thing for the kids and for the community and for the staff here.”
Mr Pakula said he was “very confident that the half a million dollars will be in the first budget”.
“We’ve got a budget coming up in May and without flagging the detail of the budget – which is very closely guarded by the treasurer as people would understand,” he said.
“I don’t think that this school can wait.
“I don’t think it would be acceptable to any of us if it was in the budget in 2017, 2018 or something of that nature.”
Mr Pakula said Maralinga’s closure should speed up the process.
“That was making it more difficult for that campus to be disposed of and the money to be freed up to complete the works at this school,” he said.
“There should now be no impediment to the department proceeding to resolve the issue of Maralinga and fund the work.
“My commitment is to keep working with Peter and the school community to advocate tirelessly for those funds to be released so that this work can be concluded.”
Chandler Park Primary School will welcome new families to the campus with a barbecue and entertainment after school tomorrow (Tuesday) afternoon.
