CLEVELAND MP Mark Robinson has called on Education Minister Kate Jones to back the construction of a hall at Cleveland District State High School.
Speaking in Parliament, Mr Robinson said the school was going through an arduous process to get a multi-purpose indoor hall.
“The P&C (parents and citizens association) want the minister to explain why Cleveland District State High School – a very large school – has been put through an onerous and undefined 18-month process to prepare a business case for the hall and with little support from EQ (Education Queensland) officers, while other smaller schools have been provided with multimillion dollar halls without going through such an arduous process,” he said.
Education Department assistant director-general infrastructure services Kevin Mara said the department expected to complete the first stage of a business case – a strategic assessment of service requirement – by the end of the year.
“The department acknowledges the Cleveland District State High School community has been advocating for a multi-purpose facility for many years,” Mr Mara said.
He said the first stage of the process, a school strategic infrastructure plan, had been developed by the principal with the P&C and regional office in September.
“Once the SASR is finalised and has been endorsed the project will be ranked in comparison to other projects (for example, additional learning spaces for schools that are close to capacity) and allocated a nominal start date, subject to available funding,” Mr Mara said.
The P&C and Mr Robinson are pushing for signatures to a Queensland parliament petition, calling for the hall.
The school has access only to a council-owned community hall and a bitumen area with a metal roof. The hall accommodates about 600 people, while the school has nearly 2000 students.
The petition is at parliament.qld.gov.au/work-of-assembly/petitions/e-petitions until November 28.
At the time of publication, it had 1825 signatures.
