Lake Wyangan Public School is one of 25 closed today. Photo: Lake Wyangan Public School Facebook.
Some 25 NSW schools have closed on Wednesday (26 November), almost all of which are in the Riverina.
The NSW Department of Education took the decision to shut schools in areas where the NSW Rural Fire Service has deemed there is a “catastrophic” fire danger, the highest level of bushfire danger. This is still the case even though temperatures have dropped considerably on Wednesday.
The following NSW schools are closed:
- Ariah Park Central School
- Barellan Central School
- Bedgerabong Public School
- Binya Public School
- Bogan Gate Public School
- Boree Creek Public School
- Caragabal Public School
- Ganmain Public School
- Greenethorpe Public School
- Lake Wyangan Public School
- Lowesdale Public School
- Marrar Public School
- Matong Public School
- Naradhan Public School
- Narrandera East Infants School
- Narrandera High School
- Pleasant Hills Public School
- Tallimba Public School
- Tharbogang Public School
- The Rock Central School
- Ungarie Central School
- Wamoon Public School
- Weethalle Public School
- Whitton-Murrami Public School
- Yerong Creek Public School.
Cootamundra MP Steph Cooke, whose electorate covers 10 of the above schools, said most were in small, isolated farming areas where fire risks were high.
“[Wednesday] is going to be a challenging one for communities across our electorate,” she said.
“Hot to very hot and dry conditions will combine with fresh to strong and gusty west to northwest winds over much of NSW will result in extreme to catastrophic fire danger for various locations on Wednesday.”
Other schools not on the above list can take the decision during the day to shut if the principal and staff deem risks are too high.
“We don’t direct schools to close if the fire danger rating changes during the day. However, the school closely monitors conditions and will respond if fires start nearby,” the NSW Department of Education states on its website.
“We may temporarily close any school based on nearby fires or other emergencies after talking to emergency services.”
The updated list of temporary school closures can be found on the department’s school operational status website.
The department has not provided any information on its social media pages but has informed parents of schools impacted.
