A group of four teachers, led by Gab McIntosh, is trying to re-establish a new alternative school for school refusers on the Central Coast following the closure of the Eagle Arts and Vocational College at Kincumber four years ago.
McIntosh, who hopes to run as an Independent candidate for the seat of Terrigal in this month’s State election, said the documentation to establish a new school for vulnerable teenagers is extraordinarily complex.
She said when the Eagle Arts and Vocational College, of which she was the Principal, was closed by the State Government at the end of 2018, 30 high risk teenagers trying to give school another were “simply tossed onto the streets”
McIntosh said the group of four would email Central Coast MPs in coming days looking for support but were not hopeful of a positive reaction.
“There is a crisis happening in education but no one seems to do anything about it,” she said.
“Teachers are drop-dead exhausted and our politicians are afraid of the bureaucrats who run education.
“Fingers crossed we make it and our struggling teenagers on the Coast get another chance at a school with no exams but lots of art and sport and much help with reading and writing too.
“It will be the kind of school that really struggling teenagers can thrive in.”
Source:
Media release, Feb 22
Gab McIntosh