By Olivia Condous
A local school principal has called out the federal government after funding cuts have seen student wait lists skyrocket with the boom of the western growth corridor.
Bacchus Marsh Grammar principal Andrew Neal said changes made to federal funding for schools introduced by the Morrison government in 2020 was the main reason why the school wasn’t able to take more students.
Mr Neal said there were significant wait lists at all year levels at the school, particularly at the prep and year seven.
“The number of spots for new students doesn’t equate to the number of people who are looking for spots,
“For Prep, where we’re interviewing for 100 students and we’ve got effectively 100 students at each campus, and we have 600 kids on the waiting list.”
The school principal said there was an obvious need for new school spots and more funding was critical for schools to build in regional growth corridors.
“That change in federal funding has basically meant that we’re not prepared to put on much more additional capacity.”
On social media, dozens of Bacchus Marsh residents vented their frustration on the lack of local secondary schools.
“There is only one public high school to support five public primary schools in the area, how does that work?” one resident asked.
Ash Khilani moved his family to Maddingley so that his son could attend Bacchus Marsh Grammar, but now he’s been on the student wait list since April 2018, with no end in sight.
“Every parent has a dream of having their kids go to a good school, we have been saving money for my son’s tuition because we wanted him to go to the school,” Mr Khilani said.
“We are here and trying to give him the best education. But we’re still waiting. I don’t know what to do.”
A department of education spokesperson said the amount of funding provided to schools was a set amount for each enrolled student.
“Additional loadings are provided for disadvantaged schools and for students that require additional support, such as students with a disability or Indigenous students.”
“The Commonwealth does not operate schools, and it is a matter for individual schools or school system authorities to determine how many enrolments they offer.”
