Belmont High gets $11.2m for classrooms in state budget

BELMONT High School will move ahead with the next stage of its master plan via $11.2 million in the just-released 2025-26 Victorian Budget.

The school in Rotherham Street will use the funds to demolish the old S-wing and create 10 new classrooms: four state-of-the-art science labs, four general purpose science rooms, and two specialised health/physical education rooms.

Belmont High School principal Joshua Baker said the new rooms would better link the school’s north and south for the future.

“With these original buildings from 1955, we’re due for some much-needed upgrades, and this is the first step in ensuring quality facilities for the students, moving forward,” Mr Baker said.

“Students will have more access out to our basketball courts and ovals as a result.

“The movement of the students has been really thought about in the new design, so there’s good pathways for the kids.”

He said plans were ready to go to tender, with construction estimated to take between a year and 18 months.

Member for Western Victoria Gayle Tierney visited Belmont High School on Tuesday this week, just before the budget announcement.

“There’s been a lot of work behind the scenes getting architectural plans up to a point where the school is shovel-ready, and they can’t wait to commence the actual build,” she said.

She said Belmont High School was among several schools earmarked for upgrades under a previous election commitment.

“It also means you’ve got facilities now that are going to be of a standard that other kids are going to want to be here, to learn in a learning environment that is on par with anything else cutting-edge not just in this region, but across the state.”

In other education-related spending, the budget also increases the Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund to help families with a Health Care Card or concession card.

Payments will rise from $154 per year for primary school students and $256 per year for secondary students to $400 from January 1, 2026.