PARENTS are demanding a two-metre-high security fence be installed at Miranda North Public School after alarming incidents of children being approached and followed by strangers.
Located on a main road, The Boulevarde, the school has five unlocked entrances and a waist-high fence.
Twice within a year, male intruders have confronted children in a toilet block, which is in a remote part of the school grounds and easily accessible from the street.
Shortly before the Christmas holidays, police were alerted after two boys, who left school separately on a Friday afternoon, reported being followed by what appeared to be the same car.
However, an Education Department security risk assessment provided a ‘‘low risk’’ rating, and Miranda North Public missed out when upgrade funding was handed out to many other schools in December.
In correspondence with the school community, department officials gave conflicting advice as to whether the safety of children was considered in the risk assessment, which they acknowledged focused on ‘‘asset protection’’.
P&C president Andy Hallett said the school had been ‘‘let down in a massive way’’.
‘‘Just about every other school in Sutherland Shire has a security fence, and it’s hard to fathom why we keep on being rejected,’’ he said.
‘‘The fence is needed not only to keep unwelcome people out, but to keep children with special needs inside the grounds.’’
Another parent, Michelle Brophy, has complained to the Ombudsman about the department’s ‘‘flawed’’ risk assessment and its ‘‘apathetic attitude’’.
Ms Brophy said, if the safety of children was included in the risk assessment, two incidents involving intruders within a year would inevitably have resulted in a high rating.
Statistically, the likelihood of it happening again was very high.
Ms Brophy said, while the children were badly shaken but otherwise unharmed, the consequences next time could be ‘‘catastrophic’’.
Cronulla MP Mark Speakman said he was disappointed the school had failed in its latest application and he would argue for it in further rounds.
An Education Department spokesman said student safety was a priority, and it it sought to work with local school communities to ensure this was the case. Following the security risk assessment in October last year, a number of strategies had been provided to address student safety matters.
‘‘Such assessments include all incidents reported by the school to the department’s safety and security directorate, which will continue to monitor the risk status of the school,’’ he said.
The spokesman said the department was confident the risk management methodology provided robust and effective advice to minimise risk exposure.
DANGER LURKING
Other recent incidents in the area, which parents have brought to the department’s attention include:
- An attempted abduction of a boy, 10, from the driveway of his Sylvania home.
- A boy, 7, broke free after being grabbed while walking from his mother’s car to a video store at Caringbah.
- Reports of children being approached outside Burraneer Bay Primary School.
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