A Liberal MP has called on the state education minister to review the reclassification of a Point Cook school.
Western Metropolitan MP Bernie Finn said the reclassification of Carranballac P-9 College into a higher socio-economic category meant the school would miss out on about $500,000 in funding.
Mr Finn said the reclassification was brought to his attention by concerned residents.
“It’s up to the minister to tell us how this decision was reached and to overturn it,” he said.
“I, like everyone else, am left in the dark. I’m waiting on the minister to grace us with his presence and tell us what he’s going to do about this.
“The school is in need of the restoration of the funding that’s been taken from it”.
Contacted by Star Weekly, a spokesman for the Department of Education was unable to explain when or why the school was reclassified, instead pointing to a press release outlining a new model for allocating needs-based funding for government schools.
The spokesman said that under the new model of funding, Carranballac College would receive an additional $188,347 in the next school year.
The new model of allocating funding – announced on Monday – will use the education levels of parents, the concentration of disadvantage of a school and parental occupations as a guide to direct funds to schools where they are most needed.
Students of the highest need, according to the new model, are those who are attending the most disadvantaged schools and whose parents have not completed year 12 and are unemployed or in a low-skilled occupation.
A spokesman for Carranballac declined to comment on the college’s reclassification.
