Ulladulla Public School is waiting for more than $700,000 worth of maintenance to be carried out.
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While schools in the Milton-Ulladulla area fared quite well overall on the NSW school maintenance backlog list release this month, UPS is waiting on the greatest amount of work and, with a backlog worth $709,489, was ranked 263 out of 2173 schools.
The maintenance backlog at Ulladulla High School totals $411,965, placing it at 642 out of 2173 primary and high schools across NSW, while Milton Public School is waiting on $128,077 worth of work and was ranked 1,443.
The list of the most neglected in the state when it comes to maintenance, was revealed in education department documents obtained by Labor under freedom of information.
The Department of Education says it’s doing all it can to reduce maintenance backlogs at Illawarra schools but it would be impossible to have no outstanding work.
The department revealed it would pump additional money into schools to help address outstanding maintenance items in “a timely manner”.
NSW Opposition Leader Luke Foley slammed the Baird government for leaving schools “literally crumbling” and having maintenance “spiralling out of control”.
A department spokesman said the previous NSW Labor government left behind a school infrastructure and maintenance backlog of almost $1 billion.
The government has injected almost $4 billion into schools’ upkeep since 2011, including $342 million in the 2015/16 financial year alone, he said.
“The Department of Education undertakes regular maintenance of school facilities, including preventative/statutory and routine maintenance, planned maintenance and essential urgent repairs,” he said.
The annual maintenance program for individual schools was developed in discussion with principals and the facility’s “life cycle” data taken into account.
The spokesman said the large number of schools across the state meant it was “not feasible to have no backlog maintenance”.
“The Department of Education is focused on ensuring the backlog maintenance liability in our schools is kept as low as possible,” he said.
“The government will be providing additional funding support over the coming years to ensure that outstanding maintenance items are addressed in a timely manner and that our students and staff continue to be provided with educational facilities that meet contemporary teaching and learning requirements.”
The Times is waiting on a list of outstanding maintenance projects from Ulladulla Public School principal Paul Woodcock.