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State Education Minister James Merlino has left open the possibility a “life-saving” Bendigo school slated for closure at the end of the year could continue to operate, saying “all options are on the table”.
Speaking in Bendigo on Wednesday, Mr Merlino said he had had positive discussions with Anglicare Victoria chief executive officer Paul McDonald about the future of the organisation’s Educational Services Unit last week, and did not rule out increased government funding for the embattled school for disengaged youth.
“Those 39 students at [the ESU], they are our top priority, we’re working with Anglicare and all options are on the table,” he said.
“We had a really positive meeting with the CEO of Anglicare and we’ll continue to work through all of the options to support those students that are currently at [the ESU] and other students in the future who need additional supports.”
While there was some cautious optimism among parents contacted by the Bendigo Advertiser on Wednesday, they also expressed disappointment at a lack of communication from the Education Department.
Leanne Cullen, whose son Riley Hunter is in year 10 at the ESU, said she was still under the impression the school would close, with the only correspondence she had received relating to Riley’s transition back into mainstream schooling.
“I gave them the alternative that there was no option to return him to mainstream,” she said.
“Until we actually hear anything [directly] I’m not positive that that’s where the Education Department’s coming from.”
Another parent, who wished to remain anonymous for privacy reasons, said the minister’s comments had given her some hope for her son’s future, but also criticised the lack of communication.
“It’s kind of the first positive thing I’ve heard and I'm not sure why I haven’t heard it from them,” she said.
Anglicare Victoria CEO Paul McDonald also described the meeting with Mr Merlino as “very positive”.
“A range of educational options for the students currently at the ESU are being explored,” he said.
“We look forward to continued talks to ensure we get the best outcomes for the children and the Bendigo community.”
Mr Merlino said post-year-9 student retention was a high priority for the government.
“We have 10,000 young people each and every year completely dropping out of our education system between years 9 and 12,” he said.
“That is unacceptable and we’ve set a really ambitious target to halve the number of students dropping out.”
Parents were first informed of the school’s planned closure by letter last month, which was delivered after the news was broken to students during school hours.
Since then a second letter has been sent apologising for any distress caused by Anglicare’s handling of the matter.
Year 10 student Riley Hunter started a petition to save the school in July, which has so far attracted more than 500 signatures.
To sign visit www.change.org/p/save-the-education-service-unit-esu