Council support for Moree Secondary College merger

Moree Plains Shire councillors have supported the consolidation of campuses for Moree Secondary College.

Mayor Mark Johnson presented a mayoral minute at the final meeting of 2022, just days after Member for Northern Tablelands Adam Marshall announced the merger of the school’s two sites.

In the mayoral minute, Cr Johnson asked that council welcomes and supports the announcement that the two campuses are merged on to one site. The second point asks that council supports the recommendation of the Moree Secondary College P&C to work towards moving to a single campus at the Albert Street site in the central business district.

Cr Johnson said a long process would follow the announcement, however, people had worked towards the consolidation for a long time.

“I do feel that as council we should welcome it and support it,” he said. “From all accounts, from my contact with those people involved it is hopeful that this will provide better educational outcomes for the students of that school.”

Cr Kelly James, who is also the president of the secondary college P&C, said discussions about the merger had started in 2017, with the P&C resolving in 2020 to move to a single campus.

She told the meeting teachers moving between the two sites posed as a challenge, and that there was an urgent need to bring the two campuses together.

Deputy mayor Susannah Pearse abstained from the vote saying that she, and the council, needed to be better informed about the matter.

Cr Pearse said she had been contacted by people who didn’t support an amalgamation.

“I know that there are a number of sides to this,” she said.

Cr Pearse went on to say that the matter was not the core business of council.

Cr Mike Montgomery AM spoke in support of the merger and said he had talked with members of the school community as well as teachers who have highlighted the problems of trying to operate between the two sites.

“Having that one site in the middle of town would be of benefit to the community,” he said. “The Albert Street site would be more functional for our community.

“Having gone through this process and spoken with many people over the last five or six years, I support what is being proposed.”

A councillor queried what would happen to the current Carol Street site, should the secondary college solely be located at Albert Street.

Cr Johnson said the Carol Street campus could remain as an educational site for a period, depending on the needs of the community. However, the ultimate use of the defunct site would be a departmental decision.