Labor has accused the state government of "appalling failure" in neglecting public schools after a freedom of information request revealed that some have maintenance backlogs that would take up to 40 years to fix.
The value of outstanding maintenance on the Department of Education's books is now $775 million, with new documents revealing the government has allocated just $65 million in 2017 to address it.
Marsden High School in Ryde is waiting on $2,882,626 of maintenance but was allocated just $118,346 this year, while Great Lakes College in Forster has the state's highest backlog at $3.3 million and received just $140,263 this year. On this basis both would need 24 years to catch up on the backlog.
The issues include toilet block upgrades, carpet replacement, fixing damaged roofs, replacing windows and painting.
Labor's education spokesman Jihad Dib, a former state high school principal, said, "our kids can't wait 20 years".
"Our children deserve the best possible education, and that means providing the best possible learning environment," he said.
"I am bitterly disappointed to learn how little our school principals have been granted to get these repairs completed. This is a government that loves to gloat about its budget surplus. It's time to stop boasting and spend some money on building schools and repairing the ones that need it."
A spokesman for the Department defended its efforts, and said the maintenance bill should be seen in the context of its $25 billion asset base - over 2200 schools across the state.
"The Department of Education has a well-defined maintenance strategy. All statutory and preventive maintenance is completed as a first priority to ensure our schools are safe and compliant," the spokesman said.
"In a portfolio of properties the size of the department's it is not feasible to have no outstanding maintenance work."
Last year's state budget injected $330 million over two years to address the backlog, the highest amount committed to maintenance in more than 20 years.
Earlier this week four students at Heathcote High School were taken to hospital after a branch from a tree they were sitting under fell on them.
"Any maintenance issue that poses a risk to students or staff or impacts on the quality of education is addressed immediately," the spokesman said.
The Herald understands cabinet recently considered the School Assets Strategic Plan, a document that when leaked to Fairfax Media last year revealed a staggering $10.8 billion shortfall in government spending on new schools and classrooms to prepare for at least 165,000 extra public school places needed by 2031.
New education minister Rob Stokes released a draft planning policy on Saturday designed to streamline the approvals process for building new schools, and told media he would build at least a dozen new schools a year into the future.
However, Mr Dib and opposition leader Luke Foley on Saturday visited a site at Wentworth Point where a new school for 2017 was promised in five consecutive state budgets and not yet built, where they criticised the government for its record.
Mr Foley said the government's promises were not to be believed because it had delivered just 12 schools in the past six years.
