The kindergarten was planned to be built on the site of the existing primary school.
As the first-round offers for 2027 kindergarten placements opened on August 7, families in Greater Shepparton were informed that a planned Kialla West centre will not be an option next year.
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The kindergarten was expected to open its doors on the site at Kialla West Primary School at the beginning of this year, but that was pushed until next year.
Now, it has been delayed a second time, with parents of students at the school recently informed the opening had been cancelled and the “service will not be available to families in 2027”.
State Member for Northern Victoria Wendy Lovell has criticised the Victorian Government for failing local families with the second postponement.
Last year, families had to find alternative places for their children after the first opening was cancelled.
Ms Lovell said now, for a second year, parents had “once again been left in the lurch and forced to search for kinder places at a time when access to early learning is difficult to secure”.
Kialla West Primary School will not see a kindergarten in operation on its grounds in 2027.
The new Victorian premier, Ben Carroll, was education minister from 2023 until earlier this month, in which time he oversaw the Victorian School Building Authority when it failed to start construction of the promised kindergarten at Kialla West Primary School, which was announced to open in 2026 by Victorian Minister for Children Lizzie Blandthorn in March 2024.
Ms Lovell was among many advocates who warned that serious road safety upgrades around the school were needed prior to construction, for vehicles involved in building the kindergarten and for the increased traffic of parents dropping off kids once it opened.
Construction has not begun on the kindergarten, nor the road intersection upgrade.
“Labor has let down families in Greater Shepparton once again with another broken promise, and a further delay to the Kialla West kinder,” Ms Lovell said.
