SALDA says Catholic Education not interested in their plan to save Seton College
The man behind a quest to save a Brisbane private school from shutting its doors believes it will not happen due to the lack of interest from relevant authorities.
Southeast
Don't miss out on the headlines from Southeast. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The man behind the organisation looking to step in and save a Brisbane private school from its shock closure says authorities were “uninterested” in their proposal.
Brisbane Catholic Education announced Mt Gravatt’s Seton College, which caters for students with disabilities, would close in 2024 following a review into the school’s operations.
But the decision was met with an uproar from past and present students and families, who believed an all inclusive environment was not suitable for most students that attend schools such as Seton College.
BACK TO SCHOOL FOR OUR NEWEST STATE MP
FIX THIS LOT: LONG LIST OF CONCERNS WITH CHILDCARE CENTRE
DEATH TRAP, SCHOOLS: STATE MEMBER’S TOP 10 PRIORITIES
Current parents also created the Save Our Seton group, which has publicly campaigned for the college to be saved.
Shortly after the announcement, it appeared as though Seton may have found a saving grace with chairman of Speech and Language Development Australia, Peter Seldon, expressing his organisation’s willingness to take over the campus.
Mr Seldon said SALDA were keen to add a second location on top of their first campus for The Glenleighden School at Fig Tree Pocket.
Three months later and Mr Seldon believed SALDA taking over the Seton campus was no longer an option after the BCE and relevant State Government parties were not interested.
“SALDA had a meeting with BCE’s Pam Betts and her finance person in August, it was unproductive and they had no interest in working with us on a sale or transition or other means to keep Seton College running,” he said.
“The local member in Corinne McMillan wanted nothing to do with it and has had minimal interaction meaningfully on the subject.”
Mr Seldon also said they also met with Queensland Education Minister Grace Grace’s chief adviser, who said Seton was not their issue and it rested solely on BCE.
A BCE spokesman said representatives met with SALDA several months ago nut wouldn’t comment on the outcome of the meeting.
“BCE’s primary focus remains on supporting the Seton College community through to 2024,” he said.
A Department of Education spokesman said they were aware of SALDA’s interest in taking over Seton.
“The department is unable to intervene in this matter as the college is a non-state school and is therefore independent from the Government,” the spokesman said.
State Member for Mansfield (ALP) Corinne McMillan said Seton was a valued school in the community and every effort was being made to prevent it from closing.
“My efforts to date have been spent lobbying the Catholic Education Commission, Brisbane Catholic Education and the Archbishop of Brisbane to reconsider their proposed closure of Seton College,” she said.
“To my knowledge the Catholic Education Commission have stated that Seton College is not for sale.”
On top of their ambitions for a second campus, Mr Selden said SALDA and TGS also had plans to upgrade their Fig Tree Pocket facility to add an extra 100 places for students.
SALDA and TGS were in need of $8 million for the project, which would create more than 65 construction jobs and more than 20 jobs for teachers and support staff.
“This request was also subsequently dismissed by the State Government,” he said.
“The problem for smaller institutions like ourselves it’s hard to raise the remaining 40 per cent we just don’t have the base and this year has been particularly difficult for fundraising.
“While the government is publicly announcing spending on a variety of projects, it appears that the relatively small amount required by SALDA, which will provide substantial benefits to children with language disorder is not worthwhile or on their political agenda.”
A Department of Education spokesman said the State Government invested significantly in both state and non-state schools with eight new schools opened in 2020 and five to come next year.
That included two new special schools and two others currently under construction.
Mr Selden said speech and language issues impact two children in every classroom and adversely affect children’s ability to learn, mix with their peer group and become the best version of themselves.
“Our goal is to assist more children find their voice, achieve their goals and be the best they can be. It seems that the Government and BCE don’t care,” he said.
Scramble to fix $2m typo in SEQ hospital foundation finances
An extra $2 million has been added on paper to the line accounts for one of the state’s busiest hospital foundations in a blunder spotted by the Queensland Audit Office.
‘Adult crime, adult time’ laws under fire as alleged teen thieves bailed
Two teens have been granted bail following an alleged home invasion and police chase, sparking public outage over the LNP’s flagship election promise.