The Queensland Government has marked a milestone achievement, with all state schools closed due to ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred reopening on Monday 17 March.
The final school was Helensvale State High School, which received approval to reopen on Sunday.
In total, 661 state, 183 Catholic, and 205 Independent schools closed across 10 Local Government Areas in South East Queensland during this extreme weather event.
Schools were impacted by power outages and damage including water inundation in classrooms, fallen trees, roofs ripped off buildings, ceiling collapses, mould issues, as well as flooding on campus or on surrounding roads.
Premier Mr David Crisafulli joined Minister for Education Mr John-Paul Langbroek and local MP Mr Mark Boothman at Helensvale State High School to commemorate the landmark.
“The reopening of all state schools is a critical step in our recovery after ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred,” Mr Crisafulli said.
“It means students can learn and parents can return to work as normal, including our health workers, emergency services personnel and supermarket staff.
“We empowered and resourced local principals, who know their communities best, to decide when it was safe to reopen their schools, leading to this incredible result.
“School reopenings demonstrate our commitment to no daylight between response and recovery.”
Minister for Education Mr John-Paul Langbroek praised the cooperation between QBuild and local principals to make key decisions in the best interests of their communities.
“The fact that all schools are back up and running demonstrates the tenacity and dedication of the Queensland State school system,” Mr Langbroek said.
“At the peak of this event, which broke state records for all the wrong reasons, we had 1,049 schools – across the public and non-public sectors – along with more than 2,000 Early Childhood Learning Centres closed.
“Today signifies a mammoth achievement made possible by the tireless efforts of Department staff, local principals, school staff, QBuild assessors and contractors, specialist cleaners and hygienists, as well as arborists.”
