Politics & Council
8 December, 2025
P12 colleges lose out in complexity fund cut
LODDON P12 schools are to be stripped of vital funding by the State Government.
Boort District School, Wedderburn College and East Loddon P12 College will be an estimated $640 a student worse off in funding next year.
School council president at Boort, Brenton Henderson, says that within three years the cuts will cost the school more than $900 per student.
Wedderburn principal Danny Forrest has predicted cuts to the P12 complexity allowance and tutor learning initiative will mean larger class sizes and less staff.
“Students will end up with limited access when compared to their city cousins,” Mr Forrest said.
Mr Henderson said the State Government’s decisions would cost the school $118,526 in 2026. By 2029, that will have blown out to almost $170,000.
The school council has conscripted the support of the Member for Murray Plains, Peter Walsh, in its fight to stave off a funding crisis.
Mr Walsh took the school’s despair and disgust to the floor of the Victorian Parliament last week.
“Both these budget allocations – the complexity allowance and tutor learning initiative – should be considered key funding requirements for our school,” Mr Henderson said.
“Our school, being somewhat remote, is in a lower social education advantage area, with 65 per cent of our students classed as being in the bottom half of social education advantage.
“Loss of these funding items will result in a decrease in one on one and small group intervention support and limit the ability of staff to provide quality health and wellbeing support to students.
“Funding cuts will make it more difficult for our school to support students with disabilities and diverse learning needs; this affects all students.”
Mr Walsh said Victoria’s financial mess has reached the point where cuts are the only way forward – and that’s where the Allan Government was now going.
He says “everyone knows, and it has been widely reported” Victoria’s state schools are the most poorly funded in the country.
“The Allan Labor government has claimed – and I quote – ‘Victoria’s vision for the Education State is to deliver excellence in every classroom, in every corner of the state’,” Mr Walsh said. “Except, obviously, in Boort.
“If this is Premier Allan’s idea of an education state, I wonder what sort of education she must have had if she thinks these numbers add up to any kids of success.
“I went to school in Boort, and yes, there were more students back then, and it was a brilliant school – and I believe it still is. But at a time when the education and employment worlds are increasingly focused on STEM, seeing Boort cop a $40,000 cut to its secondary science, technologies and maths budget is a disgrace and only going to send students backwards, not forwards.
“These cuts will plunge this regional school into an educational crisis – already so remote it sits in a lower social education advantage area, and now this government plans to push it down even further.
“The school council tells me these cuts also guarantee a decrease in one-on-one and small group intervention support – Boort’s kids, this school, need care and kindness, not more cuts.
NAPLAN shows Boort well below the national average for maths in Years 7 and 9 – cutting more money from this budget can only make that worse.”
Mr Henderson’s assessment of cuts and the challenges facing his school is a litany of disaster.
He says not only is the school lagging in maths due to funding pressure, but its music program will also be cut from almost $20,000 to less than $14,000.
“Reducing funding further will prohibit any expansion of our music program and directly increase costs to students participating, and while reducing our school’s income, the state government is also increasing operating costs,” he said.
“We are faced with more costs and more administrative burdens and with the reduction in face-to-face teaching hours of 1.5 hours a week, schools are already trying balance additional cost pressures while protecting worker rights – this has directly resulted in fewer excursions and combined classes.
“With a reducing budget there are limited means to address this and we’re likely to see the reduction in the number of classes of our primary cohort from five classes to four, meaning larger class sizes and larger variations in child development.
“This will place additional strain on staff to deliver balanced teaching; those who fall behind may be left behind or those who are higher achievers may not have the resources to drive them further forward – and we expect a reduction of subjects in our VCE program and VET placements.“Any loss of students and staff from our school has a major flow on effect, not only to the school but our broader community, not observed in higher populated areas. Although the loss of just one person may seem insignificant, it has a proportionally higher impact due to our smaller population.”
East Loddon P12 College principal Steve Lead was also contacted for comment.
- CHRIS EARL AND ANDREW MOLE