"I really appreciate her taking the time to come out here. It was very brave of her to face some very angry parents, teachers and students."
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High praise from Murray MP Helen Dalton for education minister Sarah Mitchell after her recent visit to the MIA to meet and greet our education community face to face. Mrs Dalton spent the trip with her, and was amazed at how honest we were with the minister.
"I was shocked at how frankly children and teachers spoke to the Minister, highlighting problems at the school," Mrs Dalton said. While disappointed "intimidating", "suited bureaucrats" were hovering throughout the visit, she said everyone made their issues apparent.
"It's clear they are so frustrated and want change ... some brave children spoke freely about their concerns."
One of the things Ms Mitchell was surprised at was the very little air time demerging the school got, which had been a hot-button topic in the previous months.
"When I was there on Thursday we didn't talk about demerging at all ... no one raised it with me except for one person from the community at the P&C meeting in the afternoon," Ms Mitchell said.
None of the teachers, students or parents raised it with me and no one mentioned it the petition.
- Sarah Mitchell
"None of the teachers, students or parents raised it with me and no one mentioned it the petition."
For Mrs Dalton, she said there were "mixed views", and would only throw support behind the demerging process and petition if there was a "clear consensus".
"If there is a clear consensus to de-merge the school, I'll support it, but at this stage I'd like to focus on fixing the problems that existed before the merger," she said.
"I think everyone agrees that we need to address core problems that go beyond the merger - like the teacher shortage, lack of facilities and need for heating and cooling in every classroom."
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Many have expressed disappointment in the NSW Department of Education for not publicising the meetings.
"Some parents complained to me that they didn't know about the Minister's visit. I don't understand why there wasn't anything about the visit on the school's Facebook page. I contacted the Minister's office and asked them to let people know - when they didn't, I publicised it myself on Facebook and radio."
And as to what comes next, Mrs Dalton said she would be following up her list of problems and concerns raised during the meetings in the next six months to "see what has been changed and what's been addressed."
