The call emerged from a meeting on Wednesday, May 17, which included Notre Dame principal John Cortese, Victoria Police Inspector John Simpson, a Victorian Education Department representative, Greater Shepparton City Council CEO Peter Harriott and a Greater Shepparton Secondary College deputy principal.
The meeting discussed a recent spike in violence between students at the bus interchange, including allegations of students from the secondary college attacking a Notre Dame student.
Mr Cortese said students from about seven schools passed through the interchange and it could lead to conflict between some.
“I couldn’t tell you how many and I couldn’t tell you the severity, but I know that there are incidents happening and we’re chasing up every one, every incident that happens, trying to identify who and what happened,” he said.
“I’ll give credit to GSSC, they’re following up the same. We give them our (security) vision to see if there’s an issue there so they’ve been fantastic.”
Mr Cortese said Victoria Police and the state government would be lobbied to provide PSOs at the interchange.
“The reality is, we need, like other regional centres, to have PSOs, protective service officers, in that area, even in Shepparton and the presence of those people on a regular basis would be a great support, I believe, people understand then, it’s a safe area,” he said.
“That’s our first priority.”
The Education Department responded to the News inquiries to the Greater Shepparton Secondary College, saying a total of almost 4000 senior students attend GSSC and Notre Dame College.
A department spokesperson said the Skene St bus interchange also catered for bus transfers from other schools, including Shepparton ACE Secondary College, Goulburn Valley Grammar School and St Anne’s College, Kialla.
The department said despite the numbers, the daily movement of students on to public or private transport was “generally swift and smooth”.
It said teachers from Greater Shepparton Secondary College supervised the Hawdon St bus interchange outside that school every afternoon, with two staff attending the Skene St interchange to assist there.
While acknowledging the meeting, a departmental spokesperson did not comment on the merit of having PSOs stationed at each of the interchanges.
“All parties resolved to continue working together, while schools will continue communicating on a daily basis with respect to supervising the safe conduct of students boarding school and public buses from Skene St,” the spokesperson said.
“The use of protective service officers (PSOs) is a matter for Victoria Police.”
Local Area Victoria Police Commander Inspector Bruce Simpson, who attended the meeting, said whether PSOs were deployed or not was a decision for the state government, while confirming they were already used in regions such as Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat and Traralgon.
“There are no issues for the overwhelming majority of students using the interchange, however, there has been a small minority of persons in the area that have caused issues,” Inspector Simpson said.
“Local police have been working closely with schools and other stakeholders in a collaborative effort to address community safety concerns.
“Police will continue to conduct highly visible patrols in the area. Any assault reported to police will be investigated.”