Parents have welcomed a Labor Party promise to build a second years 10-12 school in Point Cook, saying it will allow them to choose where their children spend their senior school years.
Opposition leader Dan Andrews announced last week that Labor would build the senior secondary college and a primary school at Davis Creek, in Tarneit’s west, if it wins the November 29 election.
The pledge is part of an $87 million plan to buy land and build schools in eight growth areas and three inner-city suburbs.
The community has been calling for the promised schools for several years, with Wyndham council saying in January that a Davis Creek primary school would be needed by 2016 to cope with rapid population growth.
The Point Cook Action Group (PCAG) has been lobbying for a second senior secondary school for the suburb amid fears the existing Point Cook Senior Secondary College will be unable to cope with demand.
Alice Osborne, a Point Cook mother, said Labor’s pledge was good news for Point Cook.
“It will give us choice of where to send our children in year 10,” she said. “A lot of children travel to Bacchus Marsh, Geelong and Laverton in year 10 because it’s the only option.
“Now we need the Liberal Party to match that pledge because we definitely want this school built, regardless of the election outcome.”
PCAG president Tony Hooper said that while the group welcomed Labor’s pledge, it was concerned about where the school would be built given that land was yet to be set aside for it.
“We’d like to see both parties get in right now and lock up land for the school, maybe in the green wedge” he said.
Labor said the school would be built at a location to be determined through consultation with the community and council.
Altona MP Jill Hennessy said Labor understood that schools in Point Cook were becoming crowded and that parents had limited options.
“Parents and students want the confidence of knowing there will be places available at quality local schools,” she said.
The Coalition is yet to say whether it will match Labor’s pledge, but Education Minister Martin Dixon said in May Point Cook would not get more years 10-12 schools until the population growth called for them.
