More than 150 high school students in Adelaide's east will be forced to start their first term at a nearby university campus because their new college remains unfinished amid construction delays.
Despite anticipated fanfare around the $84 million Morialta Secondary College, the SA government said its opening has been pushed back because of building-material shortages, supply-chain problems and "22 days being lost to abnormal increased wet weather last year".
The school, on the site of the old Norwood Morialta High School middle campus, had been expected to open its doors to 168 year 7 students at the start of term 1 at the end of January.
Given the delay, Magill's UniSA campus will host school classes for three weeks "while facilities are finished and made safe", the government said.
Education Minister Blair Boyer conceded it would have been preferable for students to start the year at their new school.
"Ideally, we would like them starting at Morialta Secondary College on day one but a lot of work has been put in to make sure the Magill campus of UniSA is well set up," he said.
"[But] it'll just be the first three weeks, so not long, just down the road. I think it's about a kilometre or so away at the Magill campus of UniSA, which has all the facilities we need."
College principal Roley Coulter said parents would receive regular updates as the school's construction progressed.
"Despite starting the school year off-campus, student learning will not be impacted," he said in a statement.
Work began in February last year, and the government said the costs associated with the delay would be covered by builder Sarah Constructions, which has boosted its resources in recent weeks.
"This project, like so many across the construction industry, has been impacted by delays in the supply chain and material shortages, along with the additional disruptions caused by above-average winter and spring rainfalls," the company's chief executive Adrian Esplin said.
The school will gradually expand to accommodate extra year levels over the next five years.
It is expected to eventually accommodate 1,200 students when it opens to year 12 students in 2028.
