HALLS CREEK DISTRICT HIGH SCHOOL — ATTENDANCE
716. Hon NEIL THOMSON to the Minister for Education and
Training:
I
refer to the attendance plans for children at Halls Creek District High School,
which are now subject to investigation.
(1) Was the
minister aware of publicly expressed concerns about the adequacy of staff
resources prior to the attendance plans being finalised?
(2) If yes to (1), did the minister
direct the Department of Education to allocate more resources to the task?
(3) Was the
minister aware of deficiencies in the plans when she attended Halls Creek
District High School to present awards and when she spoke about the ''fantastic
initiative'' in Parliament in 2020?
(4) If no to (3), why did the time frame of a few days
to create the attendance plans not raise concerns for the minister?
(5) Further to the minister's answer to part (4) of
question without notice 621 —
(a) does the minister now concede that the Department
of Education may have misled the Ombudsman; and
(b) does the
minister believe that the department has misled her?
Hon SUE
ELLERY replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question.
(1)–(2) No. Operational matters relating to schools,
including the provision of resources, are made at a departmental level
and not by me.
(3) No.
(4) I was not advised that the
attendance plans were created in a few days.
(5) (a) I have
asked the director general to confirm the accuracy of the information that the
Department of Education has provided to the Ombudsman.
(b) The
department provided me with incorrect information—I made that clear in
my statement this morning. The director general has advised that on the
information currently before her, she believes there was no intention by
department staff to mislead me.