20BImpacts of closing or amalgamating government schools

20B Impacts of closing or amalgamating government schools (1) An assessment under section 20 (5) (b) must include information about the following educational, economic, environmental and social impacts in relation to closing or amalgamating a government school: (a) the following educational impacts: (i) the range, quality and depth of education programs; (ii) the age and condition of school infrastructure, facilities and resources; (iii) teaching resources and workloads; (iv) social and learning environment for children; (v) extracurricular activities; (vi) parent participation in school; (vii) out-of-hours school programs; (viii) findings of research studies on school size; (ix) student literacy and numeracy outcomes; (x) other educational outcomes; (xi) student outcomes, especially those of parents who have a low income, are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people or from a non-English speaking background or with disabilities; (xii) access to public education; (xiii) school enrolments;

(b) the following economic impacts: (i) recurrent and capital savings and costs, including one-off savings and costs, of closing or amalgamating the school for the Territory, including— (A) staffing and resources; and (B) school bus transport; and (C) traffic and safety arrangements; and (D) building maintenance and security; (ii) financial impact on parents, including transport and travel time; (iii) financial impact on local business including ongoing viability; (iv) a comparison of the cost, per student, to operate the school with the cost, per student, to operate other ACT government schools and average cost across all ACT government schools; (c) the following environmental impacts: (i) traffic congestion; (ii) air pollution; (iii) greenhouse gas emissions; (iv) noise levels; (v) open green space adjacent to the school site; (d) the following social impacts: (i) demographic projections of parents with school-age children, including taking into account expected land releases;

(ii) implications for parents who have a low income, are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people or from a non- English speaking background or of students with disabilities; (iii) safety of children walking or cycling to school; (iv) neighbourhood community facilities; (v) access to recreational and leisure facilities; (vi) provision of government services; (vii) community support networks; (viii) local employment; (ix) heritage values of school buildings. (2) An assessment may include information about any other impacts in relation to closing or amalgamating the school.