Warracknabeal Secondary College received $4 million in Wednesday’s state budget, while the Warracknabeal Special Development School received $2 million.

The schools, along with Warracknabeal Primary School, have a master plan to develop a new education precinct to combine the three schools at the primary site.

College principal Michael Briggs-Miller said the budget allocation was something the school had been waiting for.

“The schools are meeting today with the education department to see what the money means and if it’s enough to move forward with plans,” he said.

“The original master plan required a fair bit of money, about $20 million for three stages.

“The $6 million combined is obviously nowhere near that to get the job done, so we need to look at redesigning that plan to see what we’re able to do with the money we have.

“It might be that the special school and primary school go to the same site, and the secondary school stays where it is.

“For the college, it might be better for us to spend the money on upgrading our current site.”

Mr Briggs-Miller said governments had pledged money for the education precinct in the past.

“The Liberals committed $8 million before the last election, but they didn’t get in,” he said.

“The money is certainly something for the community to be excited about and we welcome it, but whether it’s enough to move forward we don’t know.

“That’s what Thursday’s meeting will be about.

“The community should be aware though that any development on the ground is unlikely to be completed until late 2018.

“These processes take time, and that’s for a good reason.

“We need to make sure we’re doing it properly and right for the future.”