Earlier this year, Forster’s Great Lakes College campus was given the dubious honour of being named the State’s “most rundown school”. Jump forward seven months and nothing’s changed.

Forster campus retains its position at the head of the queue of schools awaiting repairs, with $3,328,868 worth of maintenance waiting… and waiting… to be done. Its closest competitor – Marsden High School – is almost $500,000 behind. The second closest in this region is Taree High School with $1,351,517 worth of backlog.

“The total bill for outstanding school maintenance in the Myall Lakes electorate is $11,388,638,” Labor’s local spokesperson in the NSW Legislative Council, Courtney Houssos, said.

“In just 12 short months the school maintenance backlog has grown by $43 million,” added NSW’ Opposition leader Luke Foley, referring to the leaking roofs, broken toilets and broken windows of 2181 government schools across the state.

Mr Foley said the school maintenance backlog had ballooned to more than $775 million, with the number of schools behind by in excess of $1 million growing from 120 to 147 in 12 months.

He added that budget estimate hearings had also revealed a school overcrowding crisis, with more than a third of NSW public schools at or above capacity.

“Eleven out of 29 schools in the Myall Lakes electorate are at 100 per cent capacity,” Ms Houssos said.

A spokesperson for the Department of Education responded that fixed enrolment capacities do not exist at schools as “every student who wishes to attend a NSW public school will be given a place.”

The spokesperson added that over the next two years “approximately $5.9 million will be spent in the Myall Lakes on planned and priority maintenance.”

“This increase in funding will target roofs, floor coverings and painting, as well as other backlog maintenance works selected by school principals.”

But competing for their slice of this local funding pie will be 22 primary schools, six high schools and one central school. 

Referring to the funding, State member for Myall Lakes Stephen Bromhead said that “the record $330 million funding boost” for maintenance in NSW schools over the next two years was “great news for schools in the Myall Lakes,” and was in addition to this year’s $817,007 provided to the Great Lakes Forster Campus under the Resource Allocation Funding (RAM), an increase of $247,315 on the funding allocated last year and a $546,172 increase from two years ago.

“Myall Lakes Schools under the RAM funding have received an increase in funding of $3.6 million in 2017 on 2016 and an $8.67 million since 2014,” Mr Bromhead said, adding that in the past five years $24 million was spent on capitol works and maintenance across 29 schools within the Myall Lakes.

But Ms Houssos, who said she attended the campus when it was still new in the mid 1990s, remarked that the increase merely reflected cuts initially made “by the NSW Liberal-National Government to schools in 2012-13, when they slashed $1.7 billion from the education budget.”

She said she proudly benefitted from the work of many of the dedicated teachers who still work there, “but it’s up to the Government to provide schools with the resources they need to teach students, and an outstanding maintenance budget of over $3 million shows how little respect they have for the good work that Great Lakes College does.”

During a Budget Estimates hearing in September, she requested some special one-off funding from the Education Minister Adrian Piccoli to bring it up to speed.

“But he failed to offer any additional funding or solutions.”

The school itself was unable to comment, referring the Great Lake Advocate to the Department of Education.

Close on the heels of Labor’s maintenance list was an announcement by the NSW Government that $46 million would be available through the Connecting Country Schools program for a technology upgrade.

“To ensure schools make best use of their upgraded wireless and internet capability, they will be required to make an application and consult with their school community to identify how they intend to use the technology to improve teaching and learning,” Mr Bromhead said.

Meanwhile the Parents and Citizens committee has donated $600 to the college dance troupe for this year’s School Spectacular pilgrimage, as well as $10,000 to each of the three campuses – Forster, and both junior and senior Tuncurry campus’. The annual donation is made from canteen profits but the decision to how it is spent is left to each principal. 

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Bobin Public School $77,666

Bulahdelah Central School $45,744

Bungwahl Public School $25,299

Pacific Palms Public School $545,824

Coolongolook Public School $200,495

Cundletown Public School $715,167

Elands Public School $81,877

Forster Public School $217,140

Krambach Public School $74,389

Mitchells Island Public School $55,332

Mount George Public School $29,049

Nabiac Public School $361,443

Old Bar Public School $193,142

Oxley Island Public School $165,724

Taree Public School $625,293

Tinonee Public School $237,031

Taree West Public School $361,962

Chatham Public School $280,167

Tuncurry Public School $32,481

Manning Gardens Public School $173,513

Wingham Brush Public School $417,393

Hallidays Point Public School $179,507

Wingham Public School $579,769

Taree High School  $1,351,517

Great Lakes College Senior Campus $54,440

Great Lakes College Tuncurry Campus $323 TBC

Wingham High School $228,262

Chatham High School $749,821

Great Lakes College Forster Campus $3,328,868