Students in western New South Wales returned to school today but not everything has gone to plan in Broken Hill. One of the city's high schools has been closed for an entire year due to a toxic mould outbreak and while the building has been slated for demolition, it stands almost untouched.
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00:00Thousands of students across Broken Hill returned to the classroom today, but for one of its
00:07local school sites, Williama High School behind me, it remains virtually abandoned.
00:12It's been more than a year now since the discovery of a significant mould outbreak at the school.
00:17Further investigation at the site found that that contamination was widespread and there
00:22was also asbestos and lead paint within its walls.
00:27Following the release of an independent hygienist report in March last year, the state government
00:33announced that the school would be demolished and later rebuilt.
00:37Since then though, there's been virtually no activity at the site.
00:40There is still 24-hour security and the lights still go on overnight, but externally it still
00:47looks almost exactly the same as it did 12 months ago, instead serving as a grim reminder
00:52of that initial incident for the more than 600 students and staff that were displaced.
00:58They've obviously had a very disrupted 12 months.
01:02They spent first term at three separate school sites across Broken Hill before coming back
01:07together again in second term at a temporary pop-up site at Broken Hill High, which they
01:14will return to as of today.
01:17Twelve months on from the initial incident, there are still ongoing concerns from the
01:21school community about the level of communication and support from the state government.
01:27Their main point of frustration, however, is that the original site, Willyama itself,
01:32still remains virtually untouched and there is still no specific timeline presented for
01:39the demolition of this site and speaking to a former student from the site as well as
01:44a local teacher still working there, that just isn't good enough.
01:48We needed more support, we need more support, like obviously just because we have a sort
01:54of temporary fixed environment doesn't mean that it's all well and good, so yeah I definitely
02:01think the Department of Education could support the students and staff of Willyama High School
02:07better.
02:08We have contacted the Department of Education as well as New South Wales Education Minister
02:13Pru Kha.
02:14They say they understand the community's frustration about the incident and have reiterated
02:19their commitment to have a new school built by term one, day one, 2027.
02:26In the meantime though, the preparations for that demolition are continuing and we understand
02:31that they're due to start sometime this term.