SERIOUS concerns have been raised after children began having medical issues at the Wee Waa Public School (WWPS), following the introduction of equipment and demountable classrooms from the contaminated high school site.
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Last year the Wee Waa High School grounds - which are about 39 kilometres north-west of Narrabri - were abandoned after students started suffering from a mystery illness, and they have not returned to the facility since in an effort to avoid putting them at further risk.
That is why it surprised some when classrooms were moved, given there had been no indication the problem had been solved.
The school falls in the electorate of Barwon, who is represented by Shooters, Fishers and Farmers MP Roy Butler, and he is unsure why the decision was made without more information being available.
"Whether this was a sensible decision by the Department of Education must be questioned," he said.
"From all reports the Department of Education (DoE) don't know enough about what is causing the illness at the school to say whether moving the equipment was a safe decision and given where now seeing kids and staff getting sick at the primary school site you have to say it may not have been."
Having the high school students based at WWPS is not a permanent solution, and the NSW Minister for Education Sarah Mitchell has raised the possibility of building a new high school if issues at the old one cannot be fixed.
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Last year it was theorised that a sump underneath the high school was causing mould, but without a definite answer, Mr Butler believes it would be irresponsible to create a new premises.
"First we need to understand what the contamination is at the current school, where it's coming from, how we fix it and if it's going to be a problem elsewhere in Wee Waa," he stated.
"The question has been asked by the community that if this is happening at the school where else in town could this issue crop up, and what is the government going to do about cleaning it up."
Another query of Mr Butler is why the DoE are the leading agency on the issue, given it surrounds people suffering from health issues.
He has written to the NSW Health Minister requesting that a health team be sent out to check on any member of staff or student currently based at the primary school that request medical testing or referral.
Sarah Mitchell was approached for comment but did not reply before the deadline.
