Offer of demountables angers school community

LAKE Charm Primary School might have only 24 children but it is central to the community of the small town in northern Victoria.

LAKE Charm Primary School might have only 24 children but it is central to the community of the small town in northern Victoria.

So when the Brumby government suggested the school knock down its 97-year-old buildings and replace them with $400,000 portable classrooms under the Building the Education Revolution program, there was understandable dismay.

Parents say the rationale behind the move was even more upsetting. They say the Department of Education told them they wanted the portables because the school might close in "10 or 20 years" and then the classrooms could be moved to another school.

"I went here in 1979 and there were 36 of us, so the enrolment hasn't changed that much," says School Council president Claire Gillen.

She said the principal was approached by the department in April last year and told the department wanted to demolish the building and replace it with what the school considers inferior demountable classrooms.

She said the principal was told to keep the proposal quiet, and plans for the demolition went ahead without any consultation with the local community.

Ms Gillen said when teachers and parents found out, they were outraged and organised a community meeting.

The community rejected the proposal, and the department then said it could either have the portable classrooms or $50,000 to upgrade the current facilities -- despite the fact that the school was entitled to $275,000, Ms Gillen said.

The historic school accepted this offer but other problems ensued.

The builders had not finished in time for the school year, they left building rubble everywhere, had not completed certain jobs and there had been arguments over heating and cooling.

Ms Gillen said the school -- which made a submission to the Senate inquiry into the BER program -- was still using only one classroom, and this situation was disrupting the students' education. "They say it is an education revolution but it's not. It's harming education," she said.

A spokesman for Education Minister Bronwyn Pike said the school was receiving a $400,000 project with combined state and commonwealth funding for refurbishment works.