School roof falls in

By Melissa Meehan
HEALESVILLE High School students and their parents have slammed the Labor Government’s failure to provide funding to rebuild their aging facilities.
Last week the Mail reported that students at the school were forced to wear casual clothes to stay warm after the heating system broke down.
Combined with an ancient heating system, Healesville High School students and teachers are faced with leaking roofs in the lead up to the 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,” assistant principal Allan Rennick said.
Mr Rennick said that in spite of the school’s buildings being in desperate need for redevelopment, the school boasted excellent academic achievements. School council member Caroline Connell said that the schools mediocre physical environment did not meet the academic requirements of the students at the school.
Mr Rennick said the community of Healesville deserved better.
“The whole school community is disappointed that we were overlooked in both the state and federal budgets,” Mr Rennick said.
“What we need is a complete rebuild of the school. The current buildings are falling apart.”
McEwen MP Fran Bailey described the school’s buildings as appalling.
“If these types of occupational health and safety (OHS) issues were in a factory, the factory would be closed and the employer would be taken to court,” Ms Bailey said.
“But because it is a school, we are happy to turn our back on these issues. This is simply not good enough in 2008.”
Ms Bailey described the lack of funding as a disgrace.
School captain Tarryn and Vice Captain Jess said the school was in desperate need for an upgrade.
“It would definitely make studies at the school a lot better,” Tarryn said.
“At the moment it’s not very conducive for learning.”
Jess said that there were roofs falling down, students forced to wear extra layers of clothes to stay warm and there had been no changes to the school except for the science ward since she started in 2003.
“The science ward has been the only thing that has changed at the school since my mum went to school here 28 years ago,” Jess said.
“It gets worse every year.”
Teachers at the school also highlighted the poor conditions of the buildings. “There is mildew throughout the buildings, the floor sinking in some parts,” one said.
“On a cold day, if the heating gets to 15 degrees it’s a good day,” said another.
“It’s OK for teachers because we are not limited to how many layers we wear, but I feel for the students – they deserve better.”
Despite the hardships, Mr Rennick said that the school would continue to offer innovative and engaging educational programs.
“We have an excellent, small community school,” Mr Rennick said.
“Our students are friendly and resilient, hard working and caring and we are proud of them.
“We are just hoping for funding to provide them with the best learning environment possible.”