By Kristina Burke
The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development has announced that schools and children’s services that have been identified as being at high fire risk will close on days declared a Code Red Fire Danger Rating Day.
Where possible, up to 3-days notice of a planned closure will be provided; however, the Department notes that parents and carers should expect that in some instances fewer than 3-days notice may be provided. The final decision to close a school or children’s service will be confirmed no later than midday the day before the planned closure. Once the decision to close is confirmed, this will not change – regardless of any changes in the weather forecast.
This is to help limit confusion and help families plan for how their children will be cared for when their school, kindergarten or child care service is closed.
Whilst the safety reasons for the announcement are clear, it will nevertheless put a considerable strain on working parents, especially those with limited resources for alternative care arrangements. This, in turn, will impact employers in terms of staff rostering and management and business productivity.
What are your thoughts on this new policy? How do you think employers and working parents intend to manage these situations?
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[...] difficulties for working parents when schools and child-care centres in high risk fire areas are compulsorily closed in the event of a Code Red warning being [...]
Despite assurances from the Dept of Education that parents will be given sufficient notice of a school closure, it appears that there is still confusion and uncertainty, as this article in The Age reveals:
http://www.theage.com.au/national/catastrophic-fire-warning-confusion-for-schools-20091118-imb6.html
The impact of this policy for business will be significant. Many businesses in the Dandenongs have indicated that this will result in them having to close due to the unavailability of staff. This issue will be interesting to watch as further school closures in high risk areas expected on Extreme Fire Days as well. The flow on effect of other businesses who are considering mirroring the Education Departments policy will provide a completely new paradigm for local economies.