The principal of the only public primary school in the Lucas region has voiced disappointment a new school for the rapidly growing western growth area was left unfunded in the Victorian budget.
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Alfredton Primary School principal Laurel Donaldson said in the last year alone the population at the school has soared from 550 to 600 children. From 2010 and until this year, the number of pupils at the school has jumped from 479 to 600. The school recently had a portable delivered to cater for the growth.
Despite the state government vowing to pump more than one billion dollars to build new schools and renovate those in the worst condition at the Victorian budget on Wednesday the Lucas region was overlooked.
Prior to the state budget on Wednesday $8 million was announced to upgrade the city’s ailing schools including $3 million for Ballarat Secondary College and $2.1 million for Mount Clear Secondary College. It also announced a “tech school” which offers supplementary classes for secondary students at government and non-government schools would also open its doors at Federation University in 2017.
Ms Donaldson said the school had held out hope the state government would commit to purchasing a block of land in the region to pave the way for a new public school to be built but was left deflated when no funding was announced.
“We would have hoped for some money towards a new school,” Ms Donaldson said. “We would have seen that as being a real positive thing considering the huge growth in the area and we are under pressure to keep pace.”
In September last year, the state government announced opening dates for 15 new schools in Victoria’s fastest growing areas. However, there remains no plans in sight for a public school at Lucas.
Ballarat’s closest public school to open in 2018 will be in Bannockburn, which will include a primary and secondary school. Late last year the Department of Education told The Courier it did not own a site for a school in the area but was working with the City of Ballarat to identify a possible site.