MP pushes for special needs school support

Baldivis MLA Reece Whitby has called for an education facility for children with special needs to be built in his electorate, with some students taking a two hour round bus trip to attend a school with the right facilities to support them. Mr Whitby said a new education support centre in Baldivis was something he had been advocating for several years. “I believe there is a strong case for Baldivis to be the future location of a new education support centre given its growing population and increasing number of schools,” he said. “I have put the case to State Education Minister Sue Ellery. I have also hosted education forums in Baldivis for local school P&Cs, where parents have raised the matter.” Mr Whitby said the growth of the local population of students with disabilities was also being closely monitored to identify future demand. “This process also identifies disability types and levels of education needs and what education support provision would best meet the needs of students,” he said. “A range of education support is always required where you have a significant and growing population of school-age children.” Education Minister Sue Ellery has disputed claims there are not enough facilities in or around Baldivis. “Wherever possible bus journeys are no more than 90 minutes each way from a student’s home to their school,” she said. “Students at a school which is not their closest appropriate school may either have a longer bus journey, use public transport services or be transported to school by their parents.” Ms Ellery also said specialist programs around Baldivis had sufficient capacity to cater for students in the area. “Parents can choose to enrol their child with disability in a mainstream school,” she said. “All schools can access specialist support services so staff are able to provide an appropriate education program for students with disability. One Baldivis parent who has been affected by the lack of options has started a Facebook group called Baldivis Education Support Centre Action Group, aimed at banding parents together to show just how many people would benefit from a new facility. She said sending her young child on such a long bus trip was not feasible and so had no other choice but to enrol them in a mainstream school program. “Parents are so tired and it is hard to fight when you feel that way, but if no one else will then we are determined to do so anyway,” she said. The parent said she hoped to present the case to the State Government’s Education Department again soon, backed by many other parents in the local area, through the Facebook group and letters written to Mr Whitby. Rockingham councillor Matt Whitfield asked the community if they thought a specialist education support centre was needed across posts on Baldivis related Facebook groups, with the response an overwhelming yes. Mr Whitfield said there was no suburb in WA with more schools than Baldivis, yet students with intellectual disability who lived in the Baldivis area still had to travel for such an extended time frame. “A special education support centre could be added on to an existing school, or incorporated into one of the new schools,” he said. “The local schools are fantastic but not every child is suitable for main stream schooling and my belief, and that of a lot of people, is that a special education support centre is needed to assist those with disabilities.”