Page 2293 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 23 June 2010
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There needs to be a proper consideration of all the factors involved when assessing the impact of school closures or amalgamation.
The Assembly inquiry into the school closures in recommendations 9 and 10—I know Mr Doszpot and Mrs Dunne will be particularly interested in this—stress the importance of social impact assessments and public guidelines around the conduct of these assessments. By “social impacts”, we are referring to the consequences of any public or private actions that alter the way in which people live, work, play, relate to one another and generally interact as members of society.
We have been told that one major consequence of closing the schools was that many children lost their sense of local community and that families no longer have the opportunity to connect with each other now that they are not involved in their local school. The same could be said of the village schools affected by the 2006 school closures.
The ACT Greens are seeking to address these issues in new section 20B by ensuring that these impacts are assessed from the outset. While this is a long list—and it is; it is a long and comprehensive list—it is not just about ticking off items on the list but looking at the effects as a whole and ensuring it is based on evidence and understanding of impacts in any decision making.
A change from what was originally proposed is the need to conduct the process to close or amalgamate a school over 12 months, not 18 as was originally proposed in the bill. In effect, this is a more streamlined approach. A 12-month minimum period in which to undertake the process required prior to a closure or amalgamation of a school achieves a fair and reasonable balance. I think I did mention before that this was actually something raised by the Assembly committee.
The feedback I have received is that this time frame is fair and reasonable and acknowledges the flow-on impacts to other schools and communities that take up the new students. Parents and students need as much notice as possible to enable a smooth transition to a new school or schools if needed. If, at the end of all this process with all of that engagement, all of that input, all of that expert advice and so forth, it is found that an amalgamation is the best option, or that a closure is the way that things have to go, there needs to be that proper transition for those students into other schools.
I remind members that I indicated in my speech in 2008 that many of the problems of 2006 related to timing. The reality back then was that despite the government indicating to the P&C councils that six months was only indicative and any closures would have a much longer time frame, the process then as it evolved was about the six-month consultation period, then closure.
The Assembly inquiry received a number of submissions describing a sense of panic amongst parents who were anxious about finding a suitable school to which to relocate their children. One parent told of being optimistic about consultation in relation to her school closing, only to be left with five working days prior to the end of term to find a new school when the old one was closed.
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