By Derek Schlennstedt
Walls stained with possum urine and faeces, maggots falling through the ceiling and a consistent pungent odour that permeates the entire building.
This is not a description of a house featured on a home improvement show.
Rather, it is the current state of the music rooms at Sherbrooke Community School in Sassafras.
The ‘Mail’ spoke to music teacher Luciano Menolascina who described the grisly details.
“The smell can be quite intolerable sometimes – particularly in summer,” he said.
“It’s mainly possums; they die in the roof and the carcass starts to dry so I’ve had maggots come through the ceiling once.
“I can’t make this stuff up and I’ve actually recorded it.”
The room has not fallen into disrepair for lack of trying and the school has run a number of fund-raising days in conjunction with DIY work days to try and return it to teaching standards.
With an enrolment of 160 students, Mr Menolascina said the room, which was previously a house, did not have enough space to adequately teach in.
“I always have the biggest classes when it comes to the arts,” he said.
“We have three instrumental teachers, which I organise for different days, but if we had a bigger room we could have more on the same day.
“Today I’ve had to rejig the timetable so we can both use the space.”
Visiting the site on 20 July Liberal Monbulk candidate John Schurink, State Opposition Leader Matthew Guy and Shadow Police Minister Edward O’Donohue were taken aback by the smell.
They were reassured by students using the building that they would “get used to the smell“.
Following the visit, Mr Guy said that a Liberal State Government would invest $100,000 to upgrade the music facility.
“A Liberal-National Government, together with John Schurink, will give Sherbrooke the facilities they so desperately need and rightly deserve,” he said.
“The Sherbrooke Community School has a fabulous music curriculum that needs its facilities upgraded, not ignored.”
Monbulk MP and Education Minister James Merlino said the Department of Education recently undertook maintenance and roofing works at the college, though it was not understood whether the music rooms were included in this.
“I have been advised the department has recently completed maintenance and roofing works at Sherbrooke Community College to ensure the school premises are safe, secure and well-maintained,” he said.
“If a school has urgent maintenance or repair issues which are beyond its budget capacity and directly impact on student or staff safety, it is important they contact the department immediately so any issues can be addressed.”
It is believed that to date, the Sherbrooke Community College has not made an application for funding.
