The Victorian Coalition has thrown its support behind another public secondary school in Greater Shepparton, saying there should be consultation with the community as to where it should be situated.
The comments come on the back of a renewed petition from the Mooroopna community to open a new high school on the site of the old Mooroopna High School.
It closed when the four high schools across Greater Shepparton merged to form the Greater Shepparton Secondary College.
Member for Northern Victoria Wendy Lovell said she was “always delighted” to help people have their voices heard in Parliament.
“I think the most important thing is to listen to parents, and parents are saying very clearly that they want choice ... I’m a strong supporter of choice,” she said.
“I’ve been very vocal about the need for a second secondary college in Greater Shepparton, and I think we need to listen to everyone in the community and to have genuine consultation with the community about what they want.”
Mooroopna is without a high school of its own and Tatura students have to be driven or bussed to Kyabram or Shepparton for their closest high schools.
Liberal candidate for Shepparton Cheryl Hammer has long supported a second public school in the city, but said consultation was a must before any proposals or commitments to a second school could be made.
“I think that's what was missing in the first place. There was a consultation process ... but it wasn't genuine consultation with the community,” she said.
“We need the community to tell us where that second school should go.”
Nationals candidate for Shepparton Kim O’Keeffe said she supported going back to the community, but said the Department of Education and Training needed to make public the long-term plans for the sites.
“I’m very concerned about the dormant buildings and how long they're going to stand there for,” she said.
“We know it takes time but the longer we leave things alone, they're going to become rundown and become an issue within our community.”
All three stressed the call to open a second school wasn’t a “smear campaign” against the GSSC.
“It's the only public secondary school we've got at the moment, so it's got to work for our kids and the teachers and the families more broadly,” Ms Hammer said.