Question On Notice No. 1053 asked in the Legislative Council on 15 March 2018 by Hon Martin Aldridge
Question Directed to the: Minister for Education and Training
Parliament: 40 Session: 1
Question
I refer to the Minister's claim in the Legislative Council on 14 March 2018, that funding for Central Midlands Senior High School (CMSHS) will not be impacted by the closure of the Moora Residential College, and I ask:
(a) what was the funding allocated to CMSHS in each of the last five school years, including 2018;
(b) what was the student enrolment at CMSHS in each of the last five school years, including 2018;
(c) how will the Minister quarantine funding to CMSHS, given the anticipated loss of students at the end of 2018, as a result of the Labor Government's decision to close Moora Residential College;
(d) will this funding be a departure from the student centred funding model; and
(e) will this decision reduce funding available to other schools or will this be new funding allocated in the next State budget?
Answered on 10 April 2018
a) Schools were not funded through the student-centred funding model in 2014 and, therefore, it is not applicable to compare funding in 2014 to budgets for 2015 and beyond.
|
Date
|
Budget
|
|
2015 at 2 April 2015
|
$3 489 154.00
|
|
2016 at 22 March 2016
|
$3 538 822.16
|
|
2017 at 28 March 2017
|
$3 223 480.47
|
|
2018 at 27 March 2018
|
$3 201 231.66
|
b)
|
Year
|
Funded student
full-time equivalent (FTE)
|
|
2014
|
182
|
|
2015
|
199
|
|
2016
|
207
|
|
2017
|
188
|
|
2018
|
175
|
Data as at the annual Semester 1 student census.
From 2015, funded student FTE is as per the student-centred funding model.
Funded student FTE is the same as the total student count for CMSHS because the school did not have any part-time or unfunded students in its census data from 2014 to 2018.
Since 2015, secondary schools span Years 7 to 12, having previously spanned Years 8 to 12.
A legislative change to the school starting age created a ‘half-cohort’ which progressed through the school from 2001 and eventually departed Year 12 at the end of 2014.
c) The student-centred funding model is currently undergoing review. Until the review is completed, it is not appropriate to comment on the budget for 2019.
Further, small senior high schools received a Targeted Initiative of up to $288 500 in 2018. Central Midlands Senior High School received the full $288 500.
For 2018, there will be no adjustment to the student-centred funding model allocation that has already been calculated on the basis of the census numbers. The fact that students from that school may leave during the course of this year because of the transition arrangements will not have an impact on the school’s budget for this year.
d) The Department of Education’s School Budget Review Committee (SBRC) has the ability to allocate additional funding to schools during the year, should a school experience financial difficulties.
e) The SBRC has funding set aside.