Anne Simmons
A Moe primary school longing for a secure fence around its perimeter will put an end to 10 years of campaigning if a state Liberal-Nationals government is elected in November.
Member for Narracan Gary Blackwood on Friday promised $150,000 to build a new fence around the perimeter of Albert Street Primary School and has called for a bipartisan commitment to an issue he believes is about safety for staff and students.
“Politics shouldn’t come into it,” Mr Blackwood said.
School council president Al Kurzawa said regular student polls revealed “again and again” the students were scared within their own school.
“They know the unsafe conditions they are learning in,” Mr Kurzawa said.
He said because of the school’s location in Moe’s central business district there was frequent foot traffic through the grounds and along the way the pedestrians vandalised and left rubbish.
“We have a community garden – they’ve pulled out the plants as just something to do,” Mr Kurzawa said.
The father of four, who has three children enrolled at the school, said the students cared for a community garden and chickens.
“They care about the garden and they go out there and work on it but then they show up on a Monday morning and a chicken’s dead,” he said.
“We had to deal with that just a few months ago and the plants have all been pulled out so you have to start again planting them.”
Because of the sheer number of incidents recorded by the school, Mr Kurzawa said the Education Department initiated a safety report in 2010 and another earlier this year, with both reaching the same conclusion that the school needed more security.
Additionally, staff regularly have to deal with students who flee the school grounds.
“If we have that security fencing we could actually focus on what we need to instead of hours doing things that we shouldn’t be,” Mr Kurzawa said.
Mr Blackwood said if the Coalition was not elected in November, he would badger the Labor government for the upgrade.
“I’ve raised it in Parliament and with the education minister to try and get support during this current term for the school,” Mr Blackwood said.
“I’d love the Labor party now … to come out and match this funding commitment or even do better and then we know we’ve got a bipartisan commitment to this issue.”
