SA preschools the big winners in maintenance package announcement

South Australian preschool providers will benefit from a school and preschool maintenance package announced last week, with almost 500 providers in South Australia to receive grants to undertake priority maintenance work, as part of a $32 million State Government economic stimulus package to be rolled out this year.

Local tradespeople will be engaged to undertake “much needed” maintenance work, supporting jobs and businesses in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, with SA Education Minister John Gardner saying the investment will provide “a much needed boost”. 

Mr Gardner predicted that many families would “be excited to see much needed and long awaited maintenance occurring”, adding that the preschools will “also receive a fantastic boost with funding to deliver priority work at their site”.

The package sits over and above the annual maintenance budget for services and will see every preschool in the state receive a grant of $20,000, a total of $7.6 million, to engage local businesses and tradespeople to undertake maintenance work.

Preschool maintenance grants will be used at each site’s discretion for work including painting, flooring, landscaping, kitchen upgrades, storage replacement and shade structures. Projects will be identified and managed by site directors with support from the Department for Education as required.

The payment will also fast track $25 million for many long awaited upgrades at 116 government schools including roof replacements, bitumen replacements and structural repairs. Principals have been informed of the funding and the Education Department is working with those schools to undertake the works.

To learn more about the package, please see here.