Forster’s Great Lakes Secondary College campus has the dubious honour of being named the state’s most dilapidated school.
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As of June 2015, the school had a maintenance work backlog of a whopping $3.4 million.
One of the largest comprehensive high schools in NSW the Forster campus needs to fix its sewerage system, ceilings, roofs, floor coverings, walls, retaining walls and fencing to bring it up to an acceptable standard.
In the seven months until February 2016 just over $201,000 maintenance work was completed at the Forster campus.
Not good enough according to Opposition leader Luke Foley, who claims at that pace it would take the school more than a decade to complete the backlog of work.
Taree High School came in at number 55 on the list with a maintenance backlog of more than $1.3M.
Other country high schools along the Mid North Coast in the top 20 included Toormina High School (16th) and Coffs Harbour Senior College (18th).
Mr Foley said the maintenance bill was growing faster than the maintenance spends across the state, meaning many schools would never be up to scratch.
“The maintenance backlog is spiralling out of control,” Mr Foley said.
“It’s very concerning that seven country high schools are amongst the 20 most dilapidated schools in the state,” he said.
“Country schools are being neglected while the government brawls with itself over how to spend billions on sporting stadiums in Sydney.
Shadow Minister for Regional Development and one-time primary school principal, David Harris explained the state government planned to spend more than $1.6 billion on new sporting stadiums and moving the Powerhouse Museum from its Ultimo home to Parramatta.
This money would be better spent on fixing up and maintaining our schools, Mr Harris said.
It is frustrating for teachers who are trying to maintain a pleasant environment in classrooms when you have tattered carpet, or mould and mushrooms growing in the corner of a room, he said.
He maintained a pleasant classroom was the best environment for learning.
Member for Myall Lakes, Stephen Bromhead said more than $325,000 had been spent on preventative and routine maintenance at the Forster campus during the 2014-15 financial year.
“On an annual basis a program of maintenance works is developed for each individual school in discussion with principals,” Mr Bromhead said.
“Each school’s life cycle assessment data and specific items that the school principal considers essential are taken into account during this process.”
