Annastacia Palaszczuk says Year 12 students priority if schools reopen

AS Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk continues to keep schools closed for anyone but the children of essential workers, she has revealed who will get priority if schools re-open next month.

YEAR 12 students could be the first pupils allowed to go back to school for the second half of term two, after a decision is made in mid-May.

 Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has also doubled-down on her stance on schools being open only for essential workers’ offspring and vulnerable children.

Ms Palaszczuk said she was “comfortable” with the state’s position on schools with a decision to be made about whether schools could fully reopen in mid-May.

QLD state schools warn kids may be sent home after spike in attendance

Palaszczuk Government’s homeschooling crash proves they are failing our teachers and kids

“It would be our clear intention to try and get some Year 12s to have that face [to-face] time in the first instance, I think it’s very important that we look at that issue, which is not dissimilar to what other states are doing,” she said.

Queensland Teachers’ Union President Kevin Bates said Prep, Year 1 and Year 12 students should be considered as a priority if there was a decision to have a staggered return to school in mid-May.
“In any consideration of return to school, the year 12s should be given priority, and our younger students should also have some priority,” Mr Bates said.

It comes after the Opposition leader Deb Frecklington has been calling for all parents to have the choice and freedom to send their children to school, citing that infection rates had dropped and the health advice says schools are safe.

Ms Palaszczuk said the decision on schools was taken after consultation at Cabinet, the Queensland Disaster Management Committee, the Education Minister Grace Grace and stakeholders.

“Our schools in Queensland are open for those children of essential workers and need to attend school during this time, secondly they are open to vulnerable students.

“And we have also encouraged parents to talk to their principals if there are any issues at home where both parents may be working from home but are unable to supervise while they’re doing online learning,” she said.

As school resumed on Monday, 12 per cent of state school students physically attended schools which increased by one per cent on Tuesday.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk in state parliament on Wednesday. Picture: Dan Peled/AAP

Ms Palaszczuk said when raising Queensland position on schools at the National Cabinet “there was no negativity raised about the Queensland position”.

It comes after The Courier-Mail today revealed that state schools had warned parents they may have to turn children away from from the front gate if they are not those of essential workers or vulnerable in order to comply with social distancing.

While Ms Palaszczuk said she would not comment on the school’s advice, she said that the Queensland government was one of the first to make sure vulnerable members were taken out of the school community for their own protection.

“I will always listen to the expert advice and I will listen to the advice of the school community … the teachers have a legitimate right to express their concerns,” she said.

“As the prime minister even said, there are issues for teachers social distancing, not in the classroom but also in the lunch rooms and where they congregate.”

Ms Palaszczuk said anyone who wants to rush the decision to fully reopen schools would “do it at your own peril”.

“All we need is an outbreak in the school and I’ll tell you who you’ll be in here blaming, you’ll be blaming me and blaming the Education Minister, that is why we will take this one step at a time,” she said.
“Our cases and figures are coming down which means restrictions may be able to be eased in the future and we will get this right in the best interest of this state and it is negligent of the opposition to be saying otherwise during these really critical times.”