Victoria School Funding Crisis: Kids Forced to Use 'Grim' Toilets as Parents Fume Over Grant Process

School Funding Crisis Hits Victoria

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Two heritage-listed primary schools in Victoria, Caulfield Primary School and St Kilda Park Primary, have been left struggling with dilapidated toilets that have become a health and hygiene risk for students.

In May, a parliamentary inquiry found that the Victorian government has a significant challenge in balancing the maintenance and upgrade of older government schools with the need to deliver new schools to accommodate population growth.

At Caulfield Primary School, students have been avoiding the ageing toilets due to their poor condition, which includes broken tiles, cracked linoleum, no warm water, and a sewage system that occasionally leaks from an overflow at one corner of the school.

The school has unsuccessfully applied to upgrade its toilet block and has received more than $1.85 million for projects since 2016-17, but just $456,000 of this was allocated for planned maintenance.

Libby Herman, the school council treasurer, organised a working bee for parents to clean the toilets after misuse, suspecting their poor condition caused urine to enter the substructure.

Herman believes that the school requires work to its cracked facade and that the funding allocation for planned maintenance is completely inadequate. She cited the example of the school's windows, which she said would not have ended up in such a state of disrepair if they had received regular painting and maintenance.

St Kilda Park Primary, which has an overall 'worn' rating, has also raised issues with its bathrooms, which date from the 1970s. The school has missed out on funding in a previous application, but its heritage-listed roof was recently restored, including sourcing specific slate from Canada.

Elisa Webb, the school council president, said that the school's toilets were 'grim' and that kids were avoiding using them due to their condition. She added that the school had a higher rating than before due to the restoration work, but that the toilets were still a major concern.

The Department of Education spokesperson said that the school had submitted a new application for up to $600,000 for the toilet upgrade, but the outcome of that application wouldn't be known until the end of this year.

$9 Billion in School Infrastructure Spending

The state government has built 121 new schools across Victoria since 2015, mostly in Melbourne's outer growth corridors, which account for more than half of the new schools built nationwide in that time. About $9 billion – nearly half of the $20.1 billion spent on school infrastructure – has gone into these projects.

In prioritising which schools require immediate works, the Education Department says it uses the School Building Authority's condition scores as a point-in-time assessment every five years, but also weighs up other assessments, enrolment and demographic projections, and existing plans for projects.

However, the Victorian Auditor-General's Office found in June that some government schools could be scoring upgrades on the back of community advocacy or having an 'active' local member of parliament, rather than on the urgency and need for repairs and renovation.

Swan Hill College in the state's north-west advocated for a new toilet block for much of last year, including through a video where students revealed broken toilets and towels.