Parents lament lack of soap as Gold Coast state schools step-up hygiene measures, cancel events

A FURORE has erupted over a lack of hand soap at state schools across the Gold Coast, with parents taking to social media to vent their frustrations.

A FURORE has erupted over a lack of hand soap at state schools across the Gold Coast, with parents taking to social media to vent their frustrations.

The backlash came yesterday after primary and state schools created emails and Facebook posts assuring parents they were stepping up efforts, including an increase in toilet cleaning and daily checking of soap supplies.

School messages were in line with recent government guidelines to cancel all non-essential mass gatherings attended by more than 500 people.

Cancellations included assemblies, choir practices, camps, inter-school sports, fetes, school concerts, fundraising colour runs, high school information nights, with many staggering also playtime access to ovals.

A Coomera Springs State School Facebook post announced an “increased frequency of toilet cleaning and checking of soap supplies during school day”.

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Children standing in line washing their hands in a primary school bathroom

Many parents expressed their disappointment that soap was not always available at their school, with one parent saying “Great to hear that toilet hand soap etc will be available at all times as my girls regularly tell me they are empty”.

“My daughter tells me there is hardly ever soap in the toilets so I’m glad to hear that will be addressed. It would be great if it was like that all the time,” said another parent.

A Varsity College Secondary and Primary College parent said her three children advised her that soap was a rare thing, and a mother from Pimpama State Secondary College echoed these concerns.

“My daughter has also informed me about the lack of soap situation at school but this has been happening since she started there five years ago she won’t use the toilets unless she really needs to. I’ve been sending her to school with hand sanitiser for years because of this,” one mother said.

A member of the Merrimac State High School Facebook page asked “So have the school upped the soap in all bathrooms as students have been saying they never have any in them on a normal day?”

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A sign directing visitors to the fever clinic at the Gold Coast University Hospital. Photo by Patrick HAMILTON / AFP

Meanwhile, a Pacific Pines mother said two of her children were sick last week with “sniffles, coughs and temps” and she kept them off school. However, they were almost back to normal but she decided to err on the side of caution and keep all four home just in case.

“But when I rang to tell the school they told me only two of my four could be marked as sick and the other two would be marked as an unjustified absence on their attendance record. It’s hard to know what to do at the moment,” she said.

Southern Cross University has cancelled all non-essential events until June, including its graduation ceremonies. The campus reopened last week after being closed for one day after a visiting staff member was diagnosed with coronavirus.

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The Southern Cross University Gold Coast campus at Bilinga was in shut down last week after a visiting staff member was identified with COVID-19. Photo: SCOTT POWICK

Chief marketing officer Dean Gould said where possible courses were actively being transitioned to online delivery mode, staff were encouraged to work from home and the on-campus cleaning regimen had stepped up to the “highest level of deep-cleaning”.

“The university is supporting five staff returning from official travel overseas, offering every assistance with their mandatory 14-day self-isolation upon arrival,” Mr Gould said.