‘Give school cash boost’
Epping MP Greg Smith has urged the State Government to spend money on saving a local school for children with special needs.
Mr Smith spoke in Parliament last week about leaking roofs and injury risks at Karonga School in Epping, which caters for students with a range of disabilities.
He said the F Block building was long overdue to be demolished and replaced with a new building - specially designed for students with severe and multiple disabilities.
“Karonga’s notorious F Block was funded and built by parents on land owned by the Education Department, but was never designed to house students with severe physical disabilities or challenging behaviours as it now does,” Mr Smith said.
“The Department finally took over responsibility for the school in 1979 and has many problems of maintenance, including subsiding floors, water flowing through light fittings when it rains and other serious problems caused by rainwater.”
Mr Smith said the roof was currently leaking like a sieve. In an ordinary school these problems would have been fixed by the department years ago, he said.
“Yet the department only offers bandaid solutions at best for this small school which serves 64 students.”
Mr Smith said because of its design F Block was also putting students at risk of injury because the classrooms were too small for children with mobility problems.
He said there was no suitable time out area for students with challenging behaviours and no privacy in the bathrooms because of the size and layout.
Mr Smith estimated the complete renovation would cost around $3 million dollars.
“Although the school received $850,000 from the Federal Government’s stimulus package, the P&C are frustrated that the State Government hasn’t taken immediate action,” he said.
“The State Government has built other special purpose schools in recent years, but despite the fact that Karonga has some students with the most severe disabilities, many from other parts of Sydney, it continues to refuse to commit to the new building.”
| TOP |