Destroyed Kelso High School to be rebuilt

December 22, 2005 The future direction of Kelso High School has become a little clearer following an announcement by the New South Wales government that the school will be rebuilt on its former site as a year 7 to 12 secondary school.

The original school built in 1978 was destroyed by fire on August 18, 2005. The cause of the fire remains a mystery. Following the fire, students were receiving lessons at a number of locations around Bathurst, but have since returned to the Kelso High School site where they are housed in demountable buildings on the school's oval. The ruins of the former school lay behind.

A report made following a series of community meetings into the replacement of the school earlier this month said that the community wished for Kelso High School to be rebuilt at its former site as a secondary school. The report also said that the community wished for Kelso and Bathurst High Schools to pool HSC resources by sharing subjects and allowing years 11 and 12 students to study across both campuses.

A number of models were proposed at the meetings. These included:
 * Rebuilding Kelso High School as a senior high school only (years 10 through 12) near Charles Sturt University and Bathurst TAFE. Under this plan Bathurst High School would cater for years 7 to 9.
 * Rebuilding Kelso High School as a middle school from years 6 to 9.
 * Rebuild Kelso High School as both a primary and secondary school, incorporating Kelso Public School.
 * Rebuilding Kelso High School as it was on its former site.

The proposal to rebuild Kelso High School as a secondary school and share HSC resources with Bathurst High School was made at the community meetings. Under this system, both schools will have separate principals and identities with a college director co-ordinating HSC activities between the two campuses. If one school does not offer a subject the student is interested in they will be able to take that subject at the other campus.