Key points
- There are 10 “destaffed” schools in Victoria – they are not officially closed but have no staff assigned to them.
- Devenish Primary School near Benalla is the latest destaffed school but five children would like to attend.
- Victoria has more than 20 schools with fewer than 10 enrolments, predominantly in country areas.
- Dozens of former state school sites are being prepared for sale.
- Four former state schools were sold for last year for a combined $13.9 million.
Elmhurst Primary School in Victoria’s west had just celebrated its 150th birthday when the school council decided to strip it of staff.
Former principal Alison Cheater said the unofficial closure was inevitable as enrolments had dwindled to two.
Devenish Primary School is one of 10 Victorian schools to be “destaffed” because of dwindling enrolments.Credit:Jason Robins
“The community and the families wanted it to stay open, but we had no [new] students coming in,” she said.
Inevitability didn’t make the end easier. “It was the best years of my life, working at Elmhurst,” said Cheater.
“Small rural schools become like family, so they become like your children. And even now, at a petrol station or at a supermarket, I have students who are in high school running up to me and giving me a cuddle.”
Elmhurst Primary is one of Victoria’s 10 “ghost schools” – tiny schools that are not officially shut but have no teachers assigned to them.
School councils can vote to close or destaff a school if there are low or no enrolments for the coming year. Destaffing a school allows it to reopen if enrolments emerge, although this is rare.
After a school has been destaffed for a period, usually some years, it is officially closed. If the school land is not purchased by another government agency or local council, it is rezoned and sold.
Dozens of former school sites – including campuses, ovals, dwellings and plantations – are being prepared for sale after they were closed, merged or relocated, according to the Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance.
Four former schools were sold last year for a combined $13.9 million, the department’s recent sales list shows. This includes the former Rosewall Primary School in Corio for $6.48 million and the former Yarra Hills Secondary College for $6.44 million. In recent yeas, rural schools have tended to sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Tassy Gregory and Lilly Binion would like to attend Devenish Primary School, but it has been destaffed.Credit:Jason Robins
Devenish Primary School, near Benalla in the state’s north-east, is the latest destaffed school. The decision has been controversial as five children would like to attend.
Jenny Binion enrolled her daughter, Lilly, at Devenish Primary School in term four last year, boosting the school’s enrolments to three. “Lilly was so much happier there, she was wanting to go to school,” Binion said. “Some kids just get lost in big schools.”
Around this time, school council voted to destaff the school. Binion is now homeschooling Lilly, six weeks into term one, while publicly pushing the Department of Education to restaff the school.
“Once the school goes, you lose those families and then the shop shuts, the pub shuts, and you’re just a ghost town, really,” she said. “It can be an amazing school once again. We’ve just got to get it open.”
The Department of Education is advertising for two staff members, including a teaching principal, to join Devenish Primary School, a spokesman said.
Mark McLay is chief executive of Country Education Partnerships, which advocates for improvements to rural and remote education and assists schools with small numbers.
“We don’t have a position on what is a viable number of students,” he said. “We certainly have examples where schools can jump from single to double figures in only two years.”
Across the state, more than 20 schools have 10 or fewer enrolments, the latest figures show.
Gruyere Primary, in the Yarra Valley, is another ghost school.Credit:Joe Armao
Sandi Spittal is the proud acting principal of Ultima Primary School, which has just two students. She said there were many benefits to small country schools: teachers who know their students well and teach to their needs, students with a strong sense of connection and parents speaking with teachers freely.
There are, of course, challenges. She said small schools were usually very isolated, staff are on duty all day, and there were obvious challenges with socialisation and team sports.
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