Unsafe school fence puts student lives at risk

PARENTS at a school for children with special needs are angry that it has missed out on vital funding which could save its pupils lives.  All they want is a fence – not to keep people out but to stop the children from getting out and into danger.

The group, from Glenvale Special School at Narara, want a new higher fence put up to keep their intellectually disabled children safe and off the road.  The current fence is only about 1m high, not enough to stop the children climbing over. The school was hoping to get money though the Federal Government’s building the education revolution program. But all that money was allocated to the school’s The Entrance North campus for two demountable classrooms. It is also not a priority for new fencing from the State Government because it has not suffered from vandalism.

Last year a student, 9, who has severe autism was found chest deep in a nearby duck pond after climbing over the existing fence. Last week another boy was pulled from the road by his mother seconds before a truck drove past.

All of the children at the school have severe intellectual disabilities, some also have physical disabilities. Amanda and Aaron Vanderstelt’s daughter Lily-Angel has autism, dyspraxia and global development delay. “She is severely disabled and has no concept of streets or cars,” Mrs Vanderstelt said. When government bodies were asked about the higher fence, parents were told they weren’t on a priority list which is based on schools with a high number of break-ins or incidences of vandalism. “This could be a life or death situation,” Mrs Vanderstelt said. “Our kids can’t attend a normal school because they don’t cater for them so they can’t expect our school to be under the same policies as theirs.”

Mrs Vanderstelt said teachers were forced to act like security guards patrolling the perimeter during break times to make sure no child escaped. “We want to see some action to keep our children safe,” she said.

This article is written by By Alison Buckland | Central Coast – Express Advocate

LifePROTEKT provides wandering prevention, personal location GPS devices that can help family caregivers, school administrators, etc.  keep an eye on at risk wanderers.  These devices create perimeters or geofences around the school property line to thwart wandering.  If a child breaks the perimeter a SMS alert will be sent to the caregiver or school administrator.  LifePROTEKT offers many different solutions that fit specific requirements for the special needs community.   For further information call 800 939 3952.