WILLYAMA High School Parents and Citizens, or P&C, Committee member Sarah Vlatko has spoken out against the decision making process being undertaken to determine rebuild plans for the troubled school site.
Ms Vlatko, who was appointed as a representative in the Willyama High School Project Reference Group, said although she thought she was required to keep the information shared in the PRG meetings confidential, the importance of the rebuild plans were too great not to share.
“I am sharing it [the plans from the PRG meeting] as I don’t work for the Department of Education,” she said.
In a code of conduct guide from the project reference group, a clause relating to confidentiality outlines the rules around what can be shared.
“As a member of the project reference group, you must… only disclose information when it is authorised, via project approved messages that are determined by the project team at the end of each meeting” the document says.
President of the P&C, Kirby Allen, addressed a letter to the Minister for Education and Early Learning, Prue Car, on May 27, requesting the P&C Committee have access to visuals of the rebuild project on an ongoing basis.
“I write to you again to clarify the details of the rebuild plans, in particularly, some visual presentation that the community may be able to view on an ongoing basis,” her letter said.
“While we appreciate the commitment for the ongoing design phases to be presented to the Project Reference Group (PRG), the P&C have received conflicting information on whether our representative is able to share the information publicly following the meetings.”
Ms Allen also wrote that more transparency was required.
“While the new revised overview of the build has addressed some of the concerns previously expressed, there is still confusion around certain facets of the design,” she wrote.
One concern suggested by Ms Vlatko was the library.
“I’m concerned the library is still extra small dimensions,” she said.
In plans shared from the PRG meetings, responses to feedback from the community have been outlined, with major concerns including insufficient space, design, student wellbeing and accessibility being some of the major points of concern.
Action being taken to address these issues was discussed in the meeting, including ensuring air conditioning throughout extending roof lines to ensure the school is able to be kept cool in the summer.
Another point addressed was the number of learning spaces, which are said to “exceed the current standard design for schools of similar size” according to slides presented during a meeting.
A spokesperson for Minister of Education and Early Learning Prue Car said that the consultation process has been extensive.
“The department has been genuinely listening to the feedback of the Broken Hill community and responding to their feedback,” the spokesperson said.
“The new, state-of-the-art Willyama High School will be built to allow future expansion and contain some of the most impressive educational facilities in NSW, many of which are not standard provisions in our schools such as fully equipped, industry-standard workshops and a
commercial-grade hospitality kitchen.”
The spokesperson said that the parent representative is expected to liaise with the P&C.
“The parent representative on the project reference group is a valuable and trusted position, and is expected to play a vital, liaison role in sharing information with their P&C colleagues and relaying feedback,” the spokesperson said.
