Monitor The
Yudnamatana St Ph: 08 8671 3289 Fax: 08 8671 3294 M: 0402 192 299
See our weekly special
Page 2
Your Community Newspaper ~ Roxby Downs
www.themonitor.com.au
Phone (08) 8671 2683
Fax (08) 8671 2843
Volume 4, Thursday 28th June, 2007
STATE CUTS RDAS FUNDS Written by Michelle Thomas
The Roxby Downs Area School is reeling after a body blow from the government cut $80,000 from its yearly budget. The cuts equate to big losses for public schools. Under a gag order from the Department of Education and Children’s Services, RDAS Principal, Steve Marshall was unable to speak to the press, but he detailed the losses at last week’s Governing Council meeting. Under the new reforms, a one per cent cut to resource allocation will take $41,000 from the school budget, a 25 per cent cut to electricity use will slash a further $17,000 and interest earned by investments will drop from $24,000 to $13,000. The school will also have to pay the first $100 of any work related medical treatment of its staff and cover the first four weeks of lost time from any new Workcover claim, equating to around $6,000 per incident. “This means approximately $80,000 in cuts after all is added up,” Mr Marshall said. “Some small schools will go to the wall because of this. “It is nonsensical in good times that any government would do this,” he said. President of SA Primary Principals Association, Glyn O’Brien told The Monitor the cuts at RDAS are representa-
tive of cuts to schools across the state. “The government is calling these ‘efficiencies’, we are calling them cost shifting to schools,” Ms O’Brien said. “It’s quite astonishing, the Minister and the Treasurer have said schools should take responsibility for Workcover, however, the schools are not the employers, the government is, we should not be lumbered with these costs. “In the 2006/07 budget all that was said was there would be efficiencies to Workcover, there was no detail provided. “We assumed there would be some strategy within the department to cover those costs, we never dreamed they would come to schools. “We just cannot accept that schools will be able to afford this, we know they can’t,” she said. Ms O’Brien said to cover the cut in funds, RDAS’s Governing Council will have to make some hard decisions. “Student fees may have to be raised or an increase in fundraising made, otherwise the school will have to cut particular learning programs. “Kevin Foley must not have been informed about how little flexibility schools have within their budget. “We are hopeful Minister Lomax-Smith and Treasurer Foley will recognise that they may have had flawed advice about the impact on schools of these reforms,” Ms O’Brien said. Continued on Page 4
Above: Kane Van Kruyssen painting the mural at the Roxby Downs Skate Park.
The Roxby Downs Skate Park received a face-lift last week courtesy of a grant to celebrate drug action week. For more details see page 13.
There’s a new name in the air from Monday Alliance Airlines proudly launches air services between Adelaide and Olympic Dam/Roxby Downs on Monday 2nd July • Airfares from $79 • 56-seat Fokker 50 Turboprop aircraft • Connections with Virgin Blue across Australia • New standards of in-flight service
Book online at www.virginblue.com.au