Government flunks on school funding fundamentals
P&C President Suzy Velkou, art
Continued from page 1
The president of Leichhardt’s
Parents and Citizens’ Association
(P&C) Suzy Velkou said this put
added pressure on an already
stretched budget.
“Our casual teacher bills go up
and we don’t have a way of bringing
it down,” Ms Velkou said.
“We run really, really close to our
budget. It is a structural issue in the
system,” she said. “You can imagine,
each year there are times where you
have each individual faculty coming
up with a list. There is a wish list
and then there is a realistic list and
everything on that just gets pared
down and down.”
Ms Connell said the State
Government also gave Year 7-10
schools less funding per student
than Year 7-12 campuses. But this did
not reflect the needs of the school,
as younger students often required
more supervision and guidance than
senior pupils, she said.
These funding shortfalls meant
projects around the school were
missing out.
After 14 years of fighting for a
new oval, Ms Velkou said the school
faced a new battle equipping it.
It needs shade clothes and a 25-
metre high net to prevent stray balls
heading into the bus depot at a cost
of $25,000.
A similar story was told at
Balmain Secondary College cam-
pus.
Principal Lee Wright said the
school recently had a fire safety
system installed that costs $4,000 a
year to maintain.
But there is no specific budget
for it.
“We would like not to cut back
on education or resources but un-
fortunately if the toilet is leaking the
toilet has to get fixed,” Mr Wright
said.
Mr Wright said the school had
been fighting for “uneven surfaces”
on the grounds to be repaired for
more than three years.
teacher Mark Crasti and students
show off the school’s creative side.
Despite pressures on Leichhardt
Secondary College’s budget, P&C
president Suzy Velkou said there
was creativity among the students.
This month, students will reveal their
talents in the exhibition,‘LikeArt’, a
fundraiser for fundamentals at the
school.
The school has already received
more than 100 art works from
students, local painting enthusiasts
and professional artists.
Fifteen per cent of all artworks sold
will go towards buying textbooks and
sport uniforms for the school.
LikeArt will be held at the campus,
210 Balmain Rd, Leichhardt on
August 15 from 6.30 to 9.30 pm and
August 16 from 10am to 4pm. Call
the school on 9560 2355 for more.
“We have uneven surfaces right
through our school because we sit
on a hill and some of it is sinking,”
he said.
A spokesman from the NSW
Department of Education and
Training said they “acknowledged”
the problems Leichhardt Secondary
School faced, and for the first time
have awarded them a ‘supplemen-
tary’ budget of $29,000 for casual
teachers this year.
The school has also received a
$16,000 grant for oval equipment.
The spokesman said schools
could use several methods to man-
age their budget, such as printing on
both sides of paper to save money.
Village Voice Balmain August 5