Education Minister Rob Stokes and Parliamentary Secretary for Northern NSW Ben Franklin today visited the new $50 million Ballina Coast High School to see the new facilities being delivered by the NSW Liberals & Nationals Government before it opens its doors to excited teachers and students next week.
The new high school consolidates the previous Ballina High School and Southern Cross High School and has a total of 63 new classrooms and six learning spaces.
All classrooms will be air conditioned as part of the NSW Government’s $500 million Cooler Classrooms program that is seeing air conditioning delivered in thousands of classrooms across the State.
The entire Ballina community will also benefit from the school’s new indoor sports and community centre with four sports courts, which will be available for public use. The shared use project is being built by the NSW Government and Ballina Shire Council on the school grounds and will be completed later this year.
Mr Franklin said the investment was a great example of the NSW Liberals & Nationals delivering on their commitment to local families to provide the outstanding school facilities students need to get the best possible start to life.
“This is a flagship regional school building project, incorporating the latest in educational architecture and facilitating new ways of learning and engaging students.”
With Ballina Coast High School now open, there are currently two more major upgrades underway in the area, with Byron Bay and Lennox Head Public School upgrades both due to be completed later this year.
“The NSW Liberals & Nationals are providing facilities that allow students to achieve their best whilst at school. When they were last in power Labor shut 90 schools and left the others to fall into disrepair. It is only the NSW Liberals & Nationals that are able to deliver for public education in NSW,” Mr Franklin said.
Mr Stokes said Ballina Coast High School is one of 17 new and upgraded schools opening throughout NSW for the first day of the new school year.
“We are making the largest investment in public school infrastructure by any State Government in Australian history. This includes building new schools and upgrading existing facilities to enhance the educational environment for students across NSW.”
“Ballina Coast High School is a great example of how we are planning and building schools as an integrated part of our communities. Sharing sports facilities is a win-win for both students and the wider community,” Mr Stokes said.
The NSW Liberals & Nationals Government is investing $6 billion over four years to deliver more than 170 new and upgraded schools to support communities across NSW. In addition, a record $847 million is being spent on school maintenance over four years. This is the largest investment in public education infrastructure in the history of NSW.
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