Brighton Secondary School sent into temporary Covid closure

One of the state’s largest and most expensive public schools will close its doors on Thursday after falling victim to Covid-forced staff shortages.

Brighton Secondary will become the latest school to close its doors over Covid’s effect on staff and students, according to an email to parents sent on Tuesday.

Principal Tony Lunniss wrote that the school would close from Thursday April 7 to Monday April 11 inclusive.

Brighton Secondary School Principal Tony Lunniss. Picture: Kelly Barnes

“It has been decided to temporarily move to remote learning for all students at Brighton Secondary School,” he said.

“The impact of ongoing positive cases emerging among staff and students across the school over the past 7 days has been considered by the Department for Education’s Covid Response Team, to determine the most appropriate course of action.”

Mr Lunniss said he expected students to return to face-to-face learning on Tuesday, April 12 – just two days before the Easter school holidays.

It comes after at least four schools, including Adelaide High School, closed their doors in a matter of days last month as Premier Peter Malinauskas ruled out closing schools early for the holidays.

“Closing down school for a week is a big deal,” Mr Malinauskas said at the time.

“We need to think these things through very carefully, not just through the perspective of teachers, but parents and students alike.”

Brighton Secondary is one of the state’s biggest public schools with over 1500 students enrolled from years 7-12.

The school is also one of the most expensive public educators in the state, charging a state-high $1267 for Year 12 fees in 2022, according to Education Department data provided to The Advertiser earlier this year.

The school’s closure is the latest challenge in South Australia’s battle with surging Covid cases, as the state recorded 5068 new cases and four deaths today, bringing the total of active cases to 35,001.

The deaths were four women – two in their 60s, one in her 70s and one in her 80s.

Premier Peter Malinauskas announced on Tuesday said he would extend vaccination clinics operations to at least June and the Wayville clinic to July 31 as SA was predicted to hit a peak of about 8000 cases a day.

Mr Lunnis said the school would remain open to students whose parents had work commitments or could not source “appropriate supervision options”.

The school was unable to be reached for comment at the time of writing.