Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Taminmin College Board Chair Beverly Rahati says a move to lock the school’s toilets during class was sparked following safety concerns

Transcript

Taminmin College Board Chair Beverly Rahati says a move to lock the school’s toilets during class was sparked following safety concerns · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: We know that a Darwin school, a school in our
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: rural area in fact, has introduced a new policy which
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: is set to result in toilets being locked during class time.
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: In a bid to curb anti social behavior.
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  Speaker 1: Now to Mid Mid College says the move is to
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  Speaker 1: ensure the safety of students, with toilet blocks to be
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  Speaker 1: reopened outside of teaching time. Now, joining me on the
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  Speaker 1: show to tell us a bit more about the situation
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  Speaker 1: is the chair of to Mid Mid College, Beverly Rata.
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  Speaker 2: He Good morning to you, Beverly.
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  Speaker 3: Good morning Katie, and good morning to your listeners. Firstly,
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  Speaker 3: I'll just let you know it's not a new policy.
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  Speaker 3: It actually started in term four last year and it
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  Speaker 3: worked beautifully in term four.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, right, So what's changed this term? Well, what's mean
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  Speaker 1: the uproar? I know that a couple of students have
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  Speaker 1: taken to social media unhappy about it, But Bev, I'm
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  Speaker 1: assuming it must have been pretty bad for the school
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  Speaker 1: to get to the point where they've had to take
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  Speaker 1: this action.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, And the starting point, Katie is we actually have
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  Speaker 3: a responsibility for the safety of all our students and staff.
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  Speaker 3: And this was actually a student led request last year
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  Speaker 3: because there were a lot, including our student leadership teams
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  Speaker 3: who identified a lot of students didn't feel safe using
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  Speaker 3: the toilet. So you know, there was ant social behavior
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  Speaker 3: or saying, there was filth, there was vandalism, which costs
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  Speaker 3: tens of thousands of dollars which should be going into
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  Speaker 3: resources for all the kids. So you know we've responded
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  Speaker 3: to that. There was consultation between student staff surveys. We
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  Speaker 3: put the policy out to parents last year. As I said,
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  Speaker 3: we didn't have any complaints at all in term four
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  Speaker 3: last year. So as with everything, nothing is ever set
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  Speaker 3: and forget. It's always a cycle of you know, your plan,
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  Speaker 3: implement then your reviews. So I understand the principle has
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  Speaker 3: been in contact with those parents as they concerns and
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  Speaker 3: we'll be meeting with those. They'll also be a review
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  Speaker 3: in week five, and I believe another school survey. But importantly,
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  Speaker 3: you know last year KD I said to you several
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  Speaker 3: times about the escalating violence and you know this has
• 2:12
  Speaker 3: happened over the last eighteen months since the school ways
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  Speaker 3: comfortables were taken out of school. So you know, as
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  Speaker 3: we go back, we've seen what's happened in Casina Shopping
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  Speaker 3: Square the last couple of days. And it's interesting that
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  Speaker 3: in June twenty twenty one, so over eighteen months ago,
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  Speaker 3: myself are Charity me In and the school Cares of Bookstone,
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  Speaker 3: Sanderson Palmerston, and I think has Lena all to then
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  Speaker 3: please Minister Manison with our significant concerns about not replace
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  Speaker 3: not putting comfortables back in and replacing them with altimol.
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  Speaker 3: So you know, we identified all the issues about the
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  Speaker 3: value of comfortables, diffusing conflicts and the parents and positive
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  Speaker 3: role modeling, relationship building. But you know, it.
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  Speaker 1: Seems like, I mean, it seems like they're digging their
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  Speaker 1: heels and on this on the school based constables.
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  Speaker 2: It does seem as though you know.
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  Speaker 1: They're not they're not going to change their attacked or
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  Speaker 1: are they telling you anything different.
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  Speaker 3: Well, it was pleasing Minister Warden last year an estimate.
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  Speaker 3: It's actually indicated that she with a fresh set of eyes.
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  Speaker 3: And we've got Minister law La Bac who has forty
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  Speaker 3: years of experience in schools, so you know when you
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  Speaker 3: actually get people who might be prepared to listen to
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  Speaker 3: the people in communities who know what's going on. So
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  Speaker 3: that's actually pleasing. And I actually have heard that there
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  Speaker 3: was some that being gathered in police that showed constables
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  Speaker 3: have been taken out of schools, the actual responses and
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  Speaker 3: call out to police have increased significantly. So it's false economy, Katie.
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  Speaker 3: We'll put in an auxiliary because it's cheap, but it's
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  Speaker 3: not cheaper the long run. And look at all the
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  Speaker 3: social harm that we're seeing happening.
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  Speaker 1: Well, we're certainly seeing some real issues at the moment
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  Speaker 1: across the board, you know, like you touched on obviously
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  Speaker 1: Casarina having to implement that ban to mid men going
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  Speaker 1: down this path when it comes to you know, to
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  Speaker 1: the to the policy of the bathrooms. Just tell me, Bev.
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  Speaker 1: I know that it's being reported that obviously that students
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  Speaker 1: or there is one student at least to set up
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  Speaker 1: a petition called to MIDMN bathroom Rights and a social
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  Speaker 1: media page. I mean, what luck from your perspective as
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  Speaker 1: a chair of the college, what are people saying, you know,
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  Speaker 1: people really unhappy about this bathroom ban or are they
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  Speaker 1: most pretty okay with it?
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  Speaker 3: Well, I haven't had any direct responses at all. I
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  Speaker 3: actually was down at school last Friday because I was
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  Speaker 3: dealing with some Block fifteen issues. So I purposely was
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  Speaker 3: there over recess time. I think what the problem is.
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  Speaker 3: I went into the the girls bathroom. There were four
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  Speaker 3: girls in one cubicle with a mobile phone on the floor.
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  Speaker 3: Nothing good happens with four girls in one at a time.
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  Speaker 3: But you know, and so yeah, and I'm saying that's
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  Speaker 3: only one occasion. I get that. Probably what I'd just
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  Speaker 3: like to say, I did note yesterday there were comments
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  Speaker 3: from a social planning researcher, you know, about concerns that
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  Speaker 3: students have to receive permission is to use the bathroom.
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  Speaker 3: And I guess this highlight the idealism versus reality. Yes,
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  Speaker 3: ideally you'd like to think the twelve hundred students are
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  Speaker 3: all going to do the right thing, you know, and
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  Speaker 3: they'll be able to willy nearly leave the classrooms and
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  Speaker 3: not get into any mischief. The reality is you can't
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  Speaker 3: have twelve hundred students willy nearly coming and going from
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  Speaker 3: classrooms because that would breach our duty of care.
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  Speaker 1: Yes, oh, look, and you'll probably find that you know
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  Speaker 1: that a lot of a lot of listeners that support
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  Speaker 1: this morning will support this. As a parent, think to myself,
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  Speaker 1: you know, I would be happy with it if it
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  Speaker 1: meant that the kids were safe and if there wasn't
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  Speaker 1: vaping and other things going on inside that toilet block, some.
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  Speaker 3: Of them are criminal, right the video to paping other
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  Speaker 3: kids in toilet block is a criminal act. Yes, not
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  Speaker 3: forget that.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, you spot on hey on a separate matter, and
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  Speaker 1: I am pressed for time, But on a separate matter,
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  Speaker 1: I know that concerns have been raised about airflow in
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  Speaker 1: the refurbished teachers area Block fifteen, I believe is what
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  Speaker 1: it is. How was the airflow not factored into the
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  Speaker 1: design of that refurbished block or what's the situation here?
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  Speaker 3: Well, the board has been very concerned about this because
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  Speaker 3: it appears that the true extent may have been concealed
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  Speaker 3: from us until teachers started contacting me last Thursday. I'm
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  Speaker 3: going through documents now because I'll be doing a work
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  Speaker 3: safety report because I think there's been breaches of that Act,
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  Speaker 3: you know it with teachers last week, as you know,
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  Speaker 3: we had those that hot sill. The classrooms are up
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  Speaker 3: to forty degrees, well over the recommended limits for CO two.
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  Speaker 3: A whole heap of issues. But let me just say
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  Speaker 3: it was only with the direct intervention of Minister Lawla
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  Speaker 3: that we even got action on portable air cons So
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  Speaker 3: a question is what was the Department of Education doing
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  Speaker 3: to fulfill each study of kear obligations to our staff
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  Speaker 3: for three weeks? Because I know they were aware of
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  Speaker 3: it on day one.
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  Speaker 2: So bebs, Look, how bad is this?
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  Speaker 1: I mean for our listeners, they'll be thinking, oh, you know,
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  Speaker 1: a bit of an airflow issue. For the teachers, what's
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  Speaker 1: the concern here? Are we talking about students as well?
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  Speaker 2: How bad is this?
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  Speaker 3: Well, we're probably fortunate because what the one end of
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  Speaker 3: the building that appears to be functioning better has special
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  Speaker 3: education classes in them, so they have probably less than
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  Speaker 3: ten students. If we had twenty seven students in those classrooms,
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  Speaker 3: I'd suggest the whole system would be falling down. And
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  Speaker 3: you know, you're taking forty degrees. I think there's actually
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  Speaker 3: some workplaces that have a you have to go home
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  Speaker 3: when it gets over thirty something, and then it's an
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  Speaker 3: added issue of CO two levels. You know, they make
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  Speaker 3: people sleepy, they have physical health issues. So yeah, it's
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  Speaker 3: very concerning. It's not fix shit, and I would be
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  Speaker 3: very concerned. I'm going through the certificate of occupancy at
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  Speaker 3: the moment. I'd be very concerned if there were any
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  Speaker 3: short tups taken, because there would have been adverts publicity
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  Speaker 3: if that building wasn't ready after twelve months. Twelve months
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  Speaker 3: it's taken to refurbish a building.
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  Speaker 2: So we're too from here with this block.
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  Speaker 3: Well, thankfully with Minister Lawa's intervention, I believe parts are
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  Speaker 3: being ordered. I've seen this morning on the certificate of
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  Speaker 3: compliance issues that it was noted when that was signed
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  Speaker 3: off on the twenty fifth of January that the supply
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  Speaker 3: airflow is less than a design airflow and they said
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  Speaker 3: the green temperatures would not exceed twenty seven degrees celsius
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  Speaker 3: in some areas where there is a shortage. Well that's
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  Speaker 3: clearly wrong. So to me, there's a few issues about
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  Speaker 3: building under the Building Acts as well for compliance. So
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  Speaker 3: we're doing to report because I referred significant work health
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  Speaker 3: and safety issues to the Deputy Chief Executive of Education
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  Speaker 3: Seed Men in September last year about escalating levels of
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  Speaker 3: violence to me Men, and I'm not sure that the
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  Speaker 3: appropriate reporting was done. So I'll be doing that report
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  Speaker 3: on behalf of the board to ensure that we've recorded
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  Speaker 3: our concerned But it does sad the question. Well, then
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  Speaker 3: in the Department of Education is ensuring our teachers because,
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  Speaker 3: let us not forget Katie, we've got a glossy teacher
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  Speaker 3: wellbeing strategy. So the teachers that contacted me and the
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  Speaker 3: union last Thursday are questioning how on nearly three weeks
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  Speaker 3: went by and you know no action was taken until
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  Speaker 3: you have to get the union and the minister involved.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Beverly Ratahi, the chair of the to midmin College Board,
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  Speaker 1: We're about to catch up with the Education Department. We'll
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  Speaker 1: see what we can find out. I really appreciate you
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  Speaker 1: having a chat with me.
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  Speaker 3: If they've actually done a report to the workhouse in safety,
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  Speaker 3: I'd be very interested in having a look at that. Well.
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  Speaker 1: Beverly, thank you very much for having a chat with
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  Speaker 1: us this morning.
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  Speaker 2: Always appreciate your time.
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  Speaker 3: Thanks Katie very much.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you