School's out forever

The end of Albert Park College came at its own hand. But has the State Government ducked responsibility for school closures?

WHEN it came to the final moment the executioner's hand that had been poised over Albert Park College wavered - before swinging true. The hesitation was a tearful, four-hour school council meeting held around the laminate tables of the high school's library that decided to close its doors.

The council members were confronted with student numbers that have almost halved in the past 10 years, with just 15 year 7 pupils enrolled for next year. An expert consultant's report found the school to be in "terminal decline".

Despite the evidence against the viability of the bayside high school, one council member told The Age that the decision-making process was an "emotional rollercoaster" for those involved.

"It's like someone having cancer and you know they are going to die but you're still really flattened by the news when it actually hits," the school councillor reflected.

The Bracks Government has said a new state school will open in the area by 2009.

But this hardly tempers the grief and sadness, death and mourning - words commonly used by those involved in deciding to close Albert Park. They are familiar themes. Coming just weeks before next month's state election, the closure of Albert Park has served as a test case for the Bracks Government policy of asking struggling schools to decide their own fate.

Ever conscious of the collective memory of the 300 schools closed by the government of former premier Jeff Kennett, the policy requires a school's council to recommend to the Education Minister whether it should remain open, amalgamate or close.

More than 20 schools from Broadmeadows and Altona to Dandenong and Bendigo are talking about the prospect of merging.

So has the Government's policy of school closures worked?

There can be no doubt that resolving to shut a school is a trying and traumatic process for teachers, parents and students.

Critics, such as the teachers' union and principals, have accused the Department of Education of failing to read the warnings broadcast by Albert Park College. Some have labelled it "closing schools by stealth", saying the funding system - which allocates money based on student numbers - is designed to "bleed schools dry".

But the Victorian Government has maintained it is school communities that are best placed to decide their fate.

As Albert Park College jumped through the diagnostic hoops of community consultations and expert investigations, former principal Barbara Elvin was the very public face of the process. It exacted a high personal toll. Ms Elvin, who recently took up a new position as principal of Monterey Secondary College, told The Age that watching the school close was the hardest thing she has had to do in her professional career.

"It has been like a death, like a separation," she says. "I still worry about the outcomes for kids, because I do feel guilty. I feel as though I've let them down. I feel as though I've let the community down."

And it is the impact on students that is often overlooked. School attendance has dropped and students have accused teachers of being responsible for the closure. Last week, a group of students marched on the office of deputy Premier John Thwaites, whose electorate takes in the school.

But despite this reaction, Ms Elvin says the decision should be an exemplar of how the process of school closure could work in the future.

"Allowing school councils to decide their own fate is actually, although difficult, more humanitarian than coming in and saying 'You're closed'," she says.

While the Government, department, school staff and the community had not responded to the warning signs of problems at the school, Ms Elvin believes changes to the process of school reviews would prevent a repeat of the situation.

Others disagree. The Victorian Association of State Secondary Principals says there is a "smell" about the policy and it is simply unbelievable that the Government is hands free from the decision.

Government funding declines when enrolments fall, says association president Andrew Blair, leaving smaller schools with fewer teachers and subjects. The situation becomes "exponentially worse by bleeding schools dry".

If Albert Park College was to remain open in its current form next year, it would have lost six teachers.

"We can't have schools withering on the vine," Mr Blair says, "and then have them rebadged, expecting the public are automatically going to be confident in the new entity."

The Australian Education Union says the department failed to intervene early enough at Albert Park College, despite clear signs of trouble.

The consultant's report, commissioned by the department, found "the school has probably reached a point of terminal decline prior to the present principal (Ms Elvin) taking up her position".

Reading between the lines, the union's Victorian branch head, Mary Bluett, says there is a strong implied criticism of the department for failing to act.

The Victorian Council of School Organisations says there are legitimate reasons for schools closing, and the Government must take responsibility in such cases.

"It's lame for a government to say, 'We don't close schools', and hide behind talk of provision (mergers and closures)," council president Jacinta Cashen says.

But University of Melbourne education expert Richard Teese says schools have to stop being fearful and suspicious about talk of their future. Decisions to close or merge are not just about economic rationalism, he says. When schools become so small that they cannot offer a range of programs and a broad student mix, they become educationally unviable.

"It's not about holding a gun to their head," Professor Teese says. "Nobody wants to see their school closed, but you can't hang onto that thought indefinitely. It's not your school. It's the community's school."

And the Albert Park area, it seems, has a bright future. While a recent demographic study found that fewer than 6 per cent of the area's 35,000 12 to 17-year-olds in the area attended Albert Park College, the age group was expected to grow by 1000 in the next 15 years.

Education Minister Lynne Kosky has made a commitment to open a "rebadged" school in the area within three years, with current students transferring to Elwood College. The new school is likely to include a primary school and an accelerated learning program.

Ms Kosky freely acknowledges the closure of Albert Park College was an extremely difficult decision for the school.

But when so many parents bypassed it, she says, the school council needed to make some hard decisions and take stock.

And the minister is confident her Government's policy on school closures, which is ultimately backed by the teachers' union, has stood the test of Albert Park College.

"I met with the school council president and principal a few weeks ago," she says. "And in that discussion with them I said: 'It probably would be easier for you if I just made a decision and you could blame me, but this has got to be your decision.'"

Ms Kosky says school communities are best placed to decide their future and the best interests of students.

"School communities have to be able to be mature enough to have those discussions about the education they want . . . in that way they own their education provision as well."

The Liberal Opposition has labelled the closure and policy "a sham", saying the school council was forced into its decision.

The Bracks Government has closed 24 schools, mainly because of declining enrolments, since coming to office in 1999.

Those in charge of the new school at Albert Park will need to quickly establish a new identity that is different from its predecessor, according to Melbourne Girls College principal Judy Crowe. "You do have to know your market and create a brand."

She should know. The girls' school opened on the site of the former Richmond Secondary College in 1994 after a very public fight to keep the previous school open.

Enrolments at Melbourne Girls started at 300. Now the figure is capped at 1200, and the school receives twice as many applications as it has places in year 7. The school prides itself on excellence in science, technology and girls' leadership.

Mrs Crowe believes that, in some cases, it is better for a school to close and reopen as another institution than attempt to rebuild under its original identity. "Rebadging, which might involve a closure . . . could ultimately be easier because it's very difficult to rebuild an organisation," she says.

"I think, to rebuild something you have to take dramatic action . . . and that's what happened here."

Before that happens at Albert Park College, Barbara Elvin says, the next part of the grieving process must be about celebrating the successes of the school and looking forward.

"It's like having a wake . . . there were some wonderful wonderful programs delivered, and they need to be celebrated."

David Rood is The Age education editor. Chee Chee Leung is schools reporter.

Closures

- Government figures show 24 primary and secondary schools have closed under the Bracks Government, mostly due to declining enrolments.

- Albert Park College, Ferntree Gully College and Monash Secondary College will close at the end of the year.

Merger discussions

BROADMEADOWS

- Broadmeadows Secondary College, Erinbank Secondary College and Hillcrest Secondary College

- Campmeadows Primary School and Meadowbank Primary School

- Dallas Primary School and Upfield Primary School

- Broadmeadows West Primary School, Jacana Primary School, Meadowfair North Primary School, Westmeadows Heights Primary School

ALTONA

- Altona Secondary College and Altona West Primary School

- Altona Gate Primary School and Bayside Secondary College (Altona North campus)

DANDENONG

- Cleeland Secondary College, Dandenong High School and Doveton Secondary College

BENDIGO

- Flora Hill Secondary College, Golden Square Secondary College and Kangaroo Flat Secondary College