Occupied school to resist closure

By Peter Boyle

MELBOURNE -- The parents, students and community activists who are occupying and operating Richmond Secondary College (one of 52 schools official closed by the Kennett government last year) are preparing to resist an expected attempt by the government to evict them in the near future.

Joan Doyle, an activist in the Save Our Schools Campaign, told Green Left that a raid was expected after hearings before the Equal Opportunity Commission are completed in about a week's time.

A meeting of the campaign on March 30, attended by 50 activists, vowed to resist any eviction and reoccupy the school if they were forced out by the authorities.

Teachers unions have passed resolutions to call stop-work meetings if Richmond is raided, and workers at the nearby CUB brewery have promised to walk off the job and come to the school's defence.

A picket has been set up outside the school entrance. Telephone trees are being established in order to get more people to the school in the event of a raid. (Offers of assistance are welcomed by the school's occupation committee, which can be reached on 428 3328.)

Richmond SC continues to provide classes for some 40 students. These are run with the voluntary labour of fully qualified teachers who have been denied jobs in the official state school system because of Kennett's cuts to education funding.

Another school, Northland Secondary College, is operating under similar arrangements. Northland SC was renowned for its special programs for Aboriginal students and was cited by the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody as a positive example of action to address injustice to Aboriginal people.

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