Toowoomba region’s richest and poorest schools revealed

Toowoomba’s richest and poorest schools have been revealed, showing the top 10 have a gross combined income of more than $1 billion. SEE HOW YOUR SCHOOL COMPARES

Toowoomba Grammar School is the richest school in Toowoomba. Picture David Clark

Toowoomba’s richest school has raked in more than $157.1 million in five years with the total income per student sitting at $27,811 in 2022, the most recent school funding statistics reveal.

An independent analysis of school financial records from the MySchool website have shown the massive amount of money some schools make every year, and how little some schools are forced to scrape by on.

The figures revealed Toowoomba Grammar School in East Toowoomba had a higher gross income than any other school in the Toowoomba region.

The school made a gross income of $157.1 million, according to financial records from the combined past five years.

The school’s income increased by 15 per cent between 2018 and 2022.

The region’s second richest school was Harristown State High School, in Harristown, which had a gross income of $141.7 million.

Its total gross income per student in 2022 was $17,306.

The school with the third highest gross income was Centenary Heights State High School, in Centenary Heights, which made $133.1 million.

Its total gross income per student in 2022 was $16,826.

The figures include all fees, charges and parental contributions as well as State and Federal Government funding and any other private sources over the five years from 2018 to 2022.

It does not include any deductions for capital works or debt servicing.

The analysis does not include special schools or schools that did not have complete financial data in MySchool for one or more of the five years.

Karara State School at Karara had the lowest gross income of any school in the Toowoomba region.

It made just $2 million over the five year period.

Its total gross income increased by 36 percent from 2018 to 2022 while the total gross income per student in 2022 was $27,881.

Mount Whitestone State School at Mount Whitestone had the second lowest gross income of any school in the Toowoomba region.

It made just $2 million over the five year period.

Its total gross income increased by seven per cent from 2018 to 2022 while the total gross income per student in 2022 was $52,886.

Ma Ma Creek State School at Ma Ma Creek had the third lowest gross income of any school in the Toowoomba region.

It made just $2.2 million over the five year period.

Its total gross income increased by 19 per cent from 2018 to 2022 while the total gross income per student in 2022 was $33,506.

A Department of Education spokesman said Queensland schools were appropriately funded, but they were among the most geographically dispersed in the country.

“Each school’s gross income comprises state and federal recurrent funding, parental fees and charges, and income from other private sources,” the department said.

“The amount of funding a school attracts is affected by local factors and conditions, such as location, student cohort, staffing needs, programs offered, enrolment numbers and the age/size of facilities.”

The National School Reform agreement – the joint deal between the state and federal government around school funding allocations – expires at the end of the year, and has been the subject of ongoing negotiations for months.

The aim is to raise public school funding to meet the Schooling Resource Standard, which was recommended by the Gonski Review in 2012 and is the minimum level of funding required to meet the basic learning needs of all Australian school students.

Queensland schools are currently funded about 90 per cent of the recommended Schooling Resource Standard, with experts and education unions calling for this to rise to 100 per cent.

Both state Education Minister Di Farmer and federal Education Minister Jason Clare have committed to striking a deal that ensures every school gets fair funding in the renewed National School Reform agreement.

Queensland Teachers’ Union president Cresta Richardson said Queensland state schools were grappling with a $1.6bn shortfall.

“Fully funding state schools is the only way to ensure that every child gets the support they need to succeed, and we can recruit and retain the teachers and school leaders we have,” she said.

“By contrast, Queensland private schools are over-funded at 103 per cent of the Schooling Resource Standard this year.

“The diversity and complexity of students’ needs has never been greater.

“The challenges are too great, and the cost of inaction is too high for the inaction of funding.

“The Queensland Teachers’ Union calls on the federal government to lift the federal student resource standard to 25 per cent by 2028.”