Walgett's only public high school had become a breeding ground for "violence and criminal behaviour", with police attending almost daily, documents leaked to Fairfax Media reveal.
The situation became critical in February when two female students attacked a long-standing female teacher and a deputy principal, who was unable to return to work for nearly a week.
The continuing violence and poor academic results have also prompted a complaint to the NSW deputy ombudsman with responsibility for Aboriginal affairs, Danny Lester.
"Today there have been two more assaults on staff in the high school and no action," said the complaint to the ombudsman. It detailed fights outside the school; described children jumping and damaging staff vehicles and properties; and breaches of the school's safety regulations. It claims that former principal Richard Rule, who "achieved so much in a short time and has years of experience", was forced out of the school by some in the Aboriginal community.
The complainant refused to be named because of fears of retribution in the small town, with a population of about 2300.
Deputy Opposition Leader Linda Burney? said the situation at the school was "relegating another generation of mostly Aboriginal students to welfare and hopelessness".
"There needs to be massive investigation and a radical rethink of how the school functions."
Members of the Walgett community, including the local Country Women's Association, have written to the local member and Premier about the "tragic failure" of the school. One described the school as a "political time bomb".
Members of the council said it was impossible to retain staff who had children of high school age. They left to find a better school.
A range of documents, including minutes of meetings of the school's advisory committee last August, express fears that the school had become a breeding ground for violence and criminal activity, detail "chronic" absenteeism by teachers and students, repeated suspensions of students and a high turnover of teachers.
Some teachers have served under as many as 14 principals.
Attendance by the high school's 110 students is among the lowest in Australia, averaging 64 per cent, although a new attendance policy and officer had encouraged more students to attend regularly.
More than 98 per cent of Walgett's secondary and primary students are Indigenous; more than 90 per cent come from the poorest and most disadvantaged families in Australia. Academic results at the high school are among the worst in NSW. The primary school, which has the same executive principal and management, is also struggling but showing signs of improvement particularly for pre-kinder, kindergarten, year 1 and 2.
The community is split over the departure of Mr Rule, who resigned late last year after complaints that he was not delivering the connected communities strategy, which was introduced two years ago to increase the involvement of the local Aboriginal community in 15 struggling schools in north-western NSW.
Walgett's Aboriginal Education Committee's Consultative Group president Anne Dennis wrote to NSW Education Minister Adrian Piccoli? claiming Mr Rule had repeatedly ignored opportunities to "consult, collaborate or provide feedback".
She alleged Mr Rule failed to consult before allowing the town's only supermarket, the IGA, to reopen in the primary school hall after its shop burnt down. Mr Rule said he had consulted staff, many of whom were Indigenous, who said because it was the only supermarket in town it was something they were willing to do for the greater good of the community.
Others in the community, including the mayor, say Mr Rule brought about much-needed improvements in discipline, results and behaviour. For instance, suspensions at the high school dropped from 52 in the first term of 2014 to 15 in the second term, and in the primary school from 26 to five.
In his 45 years as a teacher and principal, Mr Rule had worked at some of the most challenging schools in NSW, but what he saw in Walgett shocked him. "I had worked in Green Valley and Blacktown, but I had never seen children so wilfully disobedient and violent."
Last year, Education Minister Adrian Piccoli described Walgett Community School as the worst high school he had seen.
"Schools like Walgett and Brewarrina don't get the scrutiny from the media," he said recently. As a result, they were "out of mind out of sight."
While other schools in the Connected Communities program had improved, Mr Piccoli said Walgett was struggling the most.
"In Walgett, like most places, the school is part of the solution. None of the problems start inside the school, whatever issues there are … violence, drugs, they don't start in the school."
Mr Rule said the young people who attended Walgett's high school "deserve the same opportunities" as those who live in non-remote areas.
"For this to happen, community and staffing stability is essential and the college has to become a school for "every child" in the community."
He said the Department of Education and Communities had allowed a very unstable educational environment to develop in Walgett, which did nothing to enhance the key value of public education.
"The people who are culpable in this? The department," he said, adding that the problem pre-dated the current minister. "For decades they have left this school go to the scrapheap."
