Department challenged by student plea

We received a well-written letter from a student (we think) about the state of the toilets.

It might surprise you to know that up until 2000 the "junior toilets" had not been upgraded since 1961.

Before the 1999 state election, the then Education Minister, John Aquilina, visited the school and announced that $120,000 would be spent on upgrading the toilets.

In the end, it turned out the department only ever meant to spend half of this money on our toilet upgrade, the other $60,000 was spent on fixing toilets at a school in the Lake Macquarie District.

Clearly, the money had been set aside in the properties budget to do two toilet blocks but someone pretended it would be for us for electioneering purposes.

The senior toilets have not been touched since 1975/76 since the "J" Block was built.

They were probably state of the art at the time and a great treat for senior students who would have been using the junior toilets up until then.

If you think the cubicle walls are low now, you should have seen the short walls before the 1999/2000 refurbishment.

Some of our year 11 and 12 students would remember this.

Doorlocks and taps can be fixed by maintenance, but graffiti on the walls, throwing toilet rolls down the toilet, and smoking can only be fixed by students behaving maturely.

This should be easy in a senior campus shouldn't it?

The concerns of the Principals and P&C Association are treated with refusals to do anything because it's not in the budget.

A good look around our site reveals that it hasn't been for some time.

Maybe the department might be moved by students making a plea - who knows?

Carolyn Carter, Principal, BWS College Woy Woy