The Bligh Labor Government has decided our school at Dows Creek near Mackay, must be closed down at the end of the year without following proper procedure. They have treated the community with complete contempt, justifying this decision using outdated and incorrect information.
The decision making process is staged:
• Identification of schools that may be unviable - Term 1
• Consultation to mothball school - Term 2
• Mothball/School Closure - Term 4
The final decision to mothball or close a school or to implement another option is vested in the Minister for Education and Training and Minister for the Arts. (Term 3)

We had a meeting with ED. dept. officials on 15th September where they heard numbers were 11 and increasing, in a growing area. We were informed the recommendation would be to monitor for 2009. Enrollments for 2009 are 15 with more wishing to enroll. Despite this the minister decided to close the school and notified the school on the 6th November.
It seems the truth won't stand in the way of achieving their agenda.
In press releases and on radio they continually quote outdated information to justify the decision.

Hi Kungurri

How many students and where will they go next year?

I have two students at the school. We have the option of busing the children to Mirani (approx. 15 K's) Or by car to Gargett, 10 K's(40 K's per day)

hi!

wow, i think that's very unfair!
what will you do now?
what do your parents say to this situation?
can't believe this...

We can't get the mothballing decision changed,therefore our children will probably go to Gargett. We haven't given up completely,and will continue to fight to have our school re-opened in 2010.Considering the short time span the whole community was shocked and most parents are still coming to grips with the decision, but probably most will send their children to Gargett.
Many of the families enrolled at the school are young families and have younger children not yet at school age.
As farms in the area are broken up and older families leave, younger families with children are moving in.
This school is more than just a place we send our children to be educated, it is the centre of our community and without it, the community will be devastated

Kungurri Krank

Is it fair to expect taxpayers to maintain school buildings, pay staff and provide resources for fifteen, twenty or thirty students?

I sympathise with how you're feeling right now, but realistically you must admit it's just not an efficient way to spend our state's limited educational funds.

You will form new community liasons within a larger school environment, and most likely in a few years' time look back on it as the best move you ever made. Rationalisations such as this are an unfortunate fact of life which we all have to face in one way or another at some stage of our lives.

You can either view the change as a loss or as a brand new opportunity, remembering that the take you have on the situation will have a big effect on how your children cope with the change.

There are many advantages a larger school has over a smaller one, and I'm sure it won't be long into the new school year before your children are happily rattling them off to you.

The value of a small school cannot be overstated, the quality of education is second to none. They usually have a committed staff and a high level of community involvement that is not seen in larger schools. To me there are many inefficiencies in the way our tax dollars are spent,education is not one, no matter how many students in the school.Education of our children is a right not a privilege and to have our choice removed to make the books balance is a sad indictment of the direction our society has taken. Some things you can't put a dollar value on.
Rural areas pay taxes like everyone else, but don't have the facilities of suburbia, like public transport,sporting facilities(other than at the local school),public facilities multi-lane freeways etc. Therefore I do think it's fair to expect a local school for our community and being the only local public facility, is an efficient use of funds.
I think large schools have many problems that don't appear in the smaller schools.

Section 19 of the Qld Education (General Provisions) Act 2006 states the following about school closures-
http://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/LEGISLTN/ACTS/2006/06AC039.pdf

"Consultation

(1) Before closing a State school, there must be adequate
consultation by the Minister with each of the following—
(a) the school community;
(b) if there is a school council for the school—the school
council;
(c) if there is an association formed for the school—the
association.""

From what I understand and the allegations made here none of these processess were undertaken.

Rainer
Thanks for your input. I looked up the legislation. Now I understand why they call it mothballing, so it can be passed off as a temporary closure, therefore allowing them to bypass the legislation.
The result is still the same no matter what it is called.