By Violet Li
The 2025-26 State Budget has unveiled another year of new funding for education infrastructure across the Casey area.
The budget reveals that four new schools in Casey will be open to students from Term 1 2026, including Ballarto Road Primary School, Casey Central Primary School, Clyde Creek North Primary and Secondary School.
Several new capital projects have been included in the budget.
Thomas Mitchell Primary School of Endeavour Hills will share $25 million with the other 20 schools statewide for small-scale capital projects. An estimated $11.5 million is expected to be delivered in the 2025-26 financial year.
Hallam Primary School will share $10 million in the 2025-26 financial year with the other 19 schools statewide for planning future upgrades.
Rangebank Primary School of Cranbourne will be allocated a total of $6.3 million for the modernisation and upgrading of existing school facilities. An estimated $1.8 million is set aside for the next financial year, and the estimated completion date is around quarter 4 of the 2026-27 financial year.
Casey Fields Primary School and Cranbourne West Secondary College will share $47.7 million with Riverwalk Primary School in the west on expansions to provide additional permanent capacity. About $0.9 million is planned to be delivered in the next financial year for three schools.
The State Government has also pledged $237 million to acquire land for future new schools and new campuses of existing schools in various municipalities, including Casey, Darebin, Melbourne, and Melton. The specific lands and the acquisition capitals have not been shared in the budget.
Several existing projects across Casey’s schools from the previous budgets will go ahead with new rounds of funding secured.
Cranbourne Secondary College can expect $4.5 million in the next financial year for the school’s upgrade and modernisation. The entire project costs about $9 million, which was announced in the 2024-25 State Budget.
About $7 million has been allocated for the Lyndhurst Secondary College’s upgrade and modernisation. In the 2024-25 State Budget, total project funding of $13.6 million was announced.
Hallam Secondary College will receive a major $15 million for the school’s upgrade. The upgrade will see a Year 7-9 building, a competition-grade gymnasium and an administration building, which will create places for 225 more local students. The school was promised funding of $24.2 million in the 2023–24 State Budget.
In her budget speech, Treasurer Jaclyn Symes said her education experience taught her that education opens doors and, importantly, it gives people the chance to imagine a bigger future.
“And that belief – that every Victorian deserves hope and to dream big about their future – is at the heart of this budget,” she said.
“It’s why we’re building and upgrading and planning new schools across our state, because every family should be able to rely on a great local school.”
Cranbourne MP Pauline Richards congratulated three schools in the Cranbourne area that were receiving new funds in this round of the State Budget on her Facebook.
“Cranbourne is truly the education centre of the universe and our students will benefit from these huge investments,” she said.
Opposition MP for the South-Eastern Metropolitan Region Ann-Marie Hermans, who is also the Shadow Assistant Minister for Education, said: “After failing to provide full funding for upgrades at Rangebank Primary School in Cranbourne, promised at the last State Election, the Allan Labor Government claims that they’re doing so in this Budget.
“While I welcome this funding after fighting for it to be delivered, I’m disappointed that they plan to complete upgrades in April 2027, months after the next State Election.
“Disgracefully, Labor did not reverse the $2.4 billion cut to public schools, a direct consequence of Labor’s financial mismanagement.”
