Empowering local school communities and getting better outcomes for students is a key focus of the Education Minister’s roundtable with local principals hosted by Member for Maroochydore Fiona Simpson.
Ms Simpson organised the forum, to give local education leaders in her electorate a direct input into policy and provide feedback to Education Minister John Paul Langbroek.
She thanked the Minister for taking the initiative to be available to the people who are at the forefront of running our local schools and to discuss what happens at grass roots level.
“This roundtable recognises the importance of local principals as leaders at the forefront of our school communities,” said Ms Simpson.
Ms Simpson said that she had already had feedback from local Principals about the State Government’s initiative to give local schools greater control over their maintenance budgets and how they are spent.
Total maintenance funding, including Advancing our Schools Maintenance, allocated to schools in the Maroochydore Electorate in 2012-13 was $1,043,397.
“This has enabled our schools to clear a back-log of much-needed maintenance issues using local contractors,” said Ms Simpson.
“Giving local principals the ability to use local contractors to get work done has not only helped their maintenance dollar go further, but has also benefitted the local economy.”
“Locally-driven policy is usually more effective in improving the educational environment and outcomes for our local students.”