Wales St Primary School: hygiene crisis, broken toilets and kitchen

CHILDREN at a Thornbury primary school have been left without working toilets or a kitchen since March, and the school has been forced to bring in bottled water — leaving parents up in arms.

REPEAT plumbing issues have caused a safety and hygiene crisis at Wales St Primary School, parents warn.

The school’s plumbing has been “run into the ground”, leaving the main hall without a working kitchen or toilets since March.

Parents have been picking up their children clutching their stomachs, avoiding using the toilets for whole days because of the mess and smell.

STUDENTS REFUSE TO USE TOILETS

SECONDARY SCHOOL FACILITIES SLAMMED

The hall toilets were fixed on September 7 after months of campaigning from parents but with a school holiday program a week away, the kitchen is a worksite.

Teachers have had to ship in bottled water for before and after school care and use the hall’s only working power point to run one sandwich press for more than 100 children in the program.

Workers sent to fix the kitchen plumbing discovered mould in the flooring and insulation and ripped out the cupboards, appliances and floorboards in March.

Jet heaters have been running 24 hours a day in an attempt to dry out the site and the school power bill has shot up 40 per cent.

MONEY ALLOCATED TO FIX ISSUES

Department of Education and Training (DET) spokesman Dave Sheridan said $150,000 had been allocated for the issues and works were scheduled to be complete by the start of Term 4.

“We know these unforeseen issues may be frustrating for the school community but the safety and wellbeing of our students is our number-one priority,” he said.

But school council member Justin George said he couldn’t see where the money had gone since all the toilets and bathroom fixtures were being reused. “Are you saying you (department) spent $150,000 in labour? Are you guys kidding me?” Mr George said.

Until last week, all equipment from the bathroom and kitchen were on the floor of the hall, taking up about a third of the floor space.

The equipment was moved into a shipping container on the Thornbury school’s playground last Monday, after the DET was contacted by journalists.

Parents Justin George and Catherine Brown say children are too scared to use the toilets at the school. Picture: Sarah Matray

SITUATION AN ‘ABSOLUTE DISGRACE’

Parent Catherine Brown said the plumbing issues had been going on for years and parents were sick of picking up their children clutching their stomachs, too scared to use the school’s toilets because of the mess and the smell.

“It’s a disgrace, it’s an absolute disgrace,” she said. “I’m not saying we want a big shiny footy stadium, we just want toilets that work.”

Mr George said the newest building on the campus had previously been closed down for more than a year after the plumbing backed up.

“These guys have been given $3.8 billion to look after the education system. I wouldn’t trust them to look after a turtle,” he said.

Wales St Primary School declined to comment.

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