SERIOUS questions have been raised about the management of school stimulus funding after a principal in a rural Hunter school was able to get better value for taxpayers' money than the NSW Education Department.
Black Hill Public School is the only public school in the region self-managing its construction work and has been able to get almost twice as much for its $850,000 federal money as similar schools.
Black Hill is building a double permanent classroom, a single classroom plus a concrete basketball court with lights, solar cells and rainwater tank.
By comparison, Booral Public School, a similar-sized rural school that received the same amount of money, will get one pre-fabricated double classroom under department management and is $42,000 over budget.
The classroom replaces demountables and won't include replacement air-conditioning.
The project is weeks over schedule and one class is held in a nearby public hall.
The NSW Education Department said it was impossible to compare projects, given the many variables. Booral Public Parents and Citizens Association president Debra Elliott said a builder linked to the school calculated that their building should cost closer to $500,000 not $850,000.
"I believe what we got isn't reflected in what we are spending," she said.
"We're working so hard with raffles and fund-raisers just to throw some bucks together while this kind of thing goes on," she said.
Ms Elliott said they wanted to manage the project but it was difficult with a new principal and said it was "so rife with conditions that it was unworkable".
She said the scheme had not benefited the community because they had a Taree builder who was doing 33 other school jobs.
"We had two area builders register and they did not even get a letter of response," Ms Elliott said.
Black Hill Public School principal Brian Adamthwaite said his school was allowed to suggest one of seven potential tenderers to the department and it was the company selected.
Mr Adamthwaite is project manager in addition to being a teaching principal but said it was necessary to save on project management fees and get the first permanent buildings at the school in its 128-year history.
"I could only go down this track if we had enormous community support," he said.
"There wouldn't be a day I'm not in building meetings."
The money concerned is from the Primary Schools for the 21st Century fund.
Paterson MP Bob Baldwin, a former builder, said the scheme required more accountability.
"I can't believe what we are paying per square metre," Mr Baldwin said. "Either it's contractors making a lot of money, or the Government is ripping money out of management fees."
Mr Baldwin said a lot of teachers and parents would not speak out because they were scared of getting nothing.
A NSW Education Department spokesman said every school had the option of self-managing, and that comparing project prices did not reflect value for money.
"Things like the slope of the site, the presence of latent ground conditions, bushfire or flood zoning and heritage listing can impact the cost," he said.
The spokesman said the department wanted information about the scheme to be as transparent as possible and school communities could report concerns at all levels.
"If there are any concerns we encourage them to be raised," he said.
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