Almost a month ago, mother-of-three Robyn Boschetti decided it was time to take action against the Shepparton Education Plan.
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Interested in sharing her concerns and engaging others, she started the ‘‘Stop Shepparton’s New Super School’’ Facebook page.
The group has more than 1700 members, which came as a surprise to Ms Boschetti.
‘‘I started it on a Wednesday night and within 24 hours we had 800 members,’’ she said.
‘‘I just put it there and let it go, once people knew, they all jumped on board.’’
Ms Boschetti was delighted to see others felt the same and the page continues to be filled daily with questions from the community, as well as links to media articles and information on the petition that has begun as a result of the page’s popularity.
One of the major concerns for Ms Boschetti is the lack of choice given to her and other parents in the area.
‘‘As parents, we should have the choice on where we send our kids,’’ she said.
Joined in her plight against the school merger by former Shepparton High School teacher Lindsay Dann, the pair attended a meeting with the Department of Education and Training to have their questions answered.
Ms Boschetti said the department contacted her to organise the meeting after she got in touch to have some the plan materials printed out.
Mr Dann said the meeting was centred around day-to-day concerns for the families as well as infrastructure.
‘‘Our discussion was basically around the lack of information and there is no-one out there trying to sell the positives to our community,’’ Mr Dann said.
‘‘I think most people are negative when they get change thrown at them, particularly when they don’t feel like they are part of the process.”
Ms Boschetti said she was frustrated as many questions went unanswered, especially with the transition process beginning in about six months’ time.
‘‘They can’t answer any of our questions, they keep telling us they are working on it,’’ she said.
Mr Dann said there were major concerns with staffing, including the loss of staff across all school communities.
Ms Boschetti echoed these concerns.
‘‘It’s going to have a flow-on effect,’’ she said.
Ms Boschetti’s other issues include the lack of funding provided by the state government to ensure the plan’s future, as well as bullying and having her three children located at three different schools.
‘‘I’ll have one at McGuire, one at Mooroopna and one at Wanganui,’’ she said.
‘‘It feels like the rug has just been pulled out from under us.’’
Mr Dann said he used to live across the road from Shepparton High School during the 1980s and that the congestion was a concern then when the school had about 1000 students.
‘‘I don’t believe you can have 50-something buses in the morning and in the afternoon, plus the local traffic and all the parents who drop kids off. Hawdon St physically will be a nightmare,’’ he said.
‘‘There’s just the little things that don’t add up in my mind and then it’s the big picture stuff that they haven’t been able to sell about the improvements to our education for our children.’’
Mr Dann said he ‘‘does not see anything wrong with the current model that cannot be fixed’’.
‘‘Nothing has been done to change how and what we teach,’’ he said.
‘‘I don’t see this as being an answer for improving educational outcomes when there is no choice.’’
The pair hope to gather as many signatures as possible on their petition before taking their concerns to Parliament.
‘‘It’s not too late, but it is late, they should’ve been selling this plan when they announced there was going to be significant change,’’ Mr Dann said.
‘‘This is going to be the most significant change in Victorian education... yet where is the front foot from the government and the education department on selling it to our community?’’