Classroom chill

By Melissa Meehan
HEALESVILLE High School students were forced to wear casual clothing to keep warm last week.
Angry parents contacted the Mail early last week because their children were forced to go against school policy and wear casual clothing because the heating system in the school’s main building wasn’t working.
Vice principal Allan Rennick said that the decision was made to allow students to wear out of uniform for the week after the boiler broke down.
“The principal decided that instead of letting our students freeze in the classrooms, that they should be able to wear casual clothing until the system is fixed,” Mr Rennick said. The school was forced to make the decision after being told that the boiler required a custom made part because the manufacturer no longer existed.
He said the broken boiler was part of the original school building which was built in 1963.
“The boiler is connected to something similar to a hot water service which is then pushed through pipes throughout the school building,” Mr Rennick said.
“The entire building needs to be replaced, we are in desperate need and are hoping for funding.”
Combined with an ancient heating system, Healesville High School students and teachers are faced with leaking roofs in the lead-up to winter.
“It feels like we are using all of our maintenance money on things that are in desperate need of replacement rather than things we should be maintaining,” Mr Rennick said.
McEwen MP Fran Bailey agreed with Mr Rennick.
“Students having to dress in three or four layers just to keep warm in the classroom is something that happens in Third World countries,” Ms Bailey said.
Ms Bailey said it was not the first time she had heard of the school being neglected by the Government.
“Exposed hot water pipes in classrooms, gaping cracks in walls and leaking ceilings have been raised as serious concerns with the state for years, with no result,” Ms Bailey said. She said the Healesville community was promised major upgrades to buildings at the local high school more than 10 years ago.
It was revealed last week that Healesville High School would share in $15 million of grants to upgrade technical equipment.
MP Ben Hardman said he was lobbying on behalf of Healesville High School to get funding to address issues with the schools facilities.
Education department spokesperson Maria Ligerakis said that the issue with the school’s heating had been fixed and was repaired as soon as possible.
Ms Ligerakis said that the school would received more than $26,000 for technical equipment under this initiative.