Save Tharwa School

From the Canberra Times :
Tharwa struck again
Michael Ruffles

THARWA residents are furious at yet another “kick in the guts” from the ACT Government with the closure of the primary school this week adding to the town’s woes.

Lifelong resident Mandy Curtis said the 2003 fires, ongoing bridge closure, and now the school’s demise led to a feeling of frustration.

“We are constantly getting kicked in the guts,” she said.

Ms Curtis now has to look for work as her role as a special needs teacher’s assistant at the Tharwa school has gone. Daughter Tori, 7, is the fifth generation of the family to have studied at the school.

The closure is another setback for the family, who lost daughter Erin, 15, to leukaemia last year.

“It’s just been one thing after another for the last four years,” she said.

The village’s unofficial mayor, Val Jeffery, said the decision to close the school came as the town struggled with the ongoing loss of its bridge, and the town’s mood only worsened as heavy smoke from the Tumut fire reminded many of the devastating 2003 bushfires.

He said the latest blow had left many feeling “very depressed”.

“It’s another complete and utter kick in the back,” he said.

“We have just copped one thing after another.”

While there has been good news with the town’s water situation being “pretty well fixed up”, the prevailing feeling with the town was one of frustration, he said.

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