Race-day riches, classroom crumbs: School on GP track pleads for help
A Melbourne primary school on the Australian Grand Prix track says it's stuck in the financial slow lane while the state lavishes cash on the annual sporting spectacle.
South Melbourne Park Primary School sits inside Albert Park, and is trackside to the race each March.
Since the school opened in 2019, parents say they've pleaded in vain for the state government to fund fixes to basic problems – chief among them, a safe school crossing on a busy road.
The school council says the families of its 390 students are aghast at recent news that the state will spend $350 million on a new pit lane and on expanding the exclusive Paddock Club for wealthy race-goers.
The school council described the government's move as adding 'insult to injury'.
The government says it's already helping South Melbourne Park Primary manage the unique disruptions the race brings each year and that it is working on new solutions.
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Being on the Grand Prix circuit brings major issues, the school says, including a procession of semi-trailers from January to April to set up and pack down for the major event that pose serious safety risks for children.
The pedestrian crossing on one of the main access roads to the school, which is used by the big trucks, is not clearly marked and has no permanent crossing supervisor. Race-day crowds also churn up the school's adjacent play area, creating what parents says is dust bowl in summer and a mud pit in winter.
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