A Wodonga teenager was forced to isolate in NSW for two weeks before returning to boarding school because her home address was in Victoria.
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Mother Kim Young had to fork out more than $2000 for accommodation for herself and her 13-year-old daughter Nat in Wagga before the Snowy Mountain Grammar School year nine student could return to class in Jindabyne.
Ms Young told The Border Mail they were "all set" to take Nat back to school on a previous permit, allowing them to cross into NSW without self-isolating for 14 days, before a last minute email stopped them in their tracks.
"Before the NSW schools went back, we got our permit, which was an absolute mess to be honest," Ms Young said.
"I spoke to the school and they sort of said because you are from a border community and in reading that pass we are happy to take the child without self-isolating as we believe that is what the permit means.
"We were due to drive Nat on the Sunday, but on the Friday night we got an email from Service NSW saying that they were changing the rules and even though the child is from a border community we would still need to self-isolate for two weeks before returning to boarding school.
"We had to go into NSW to isolate, we couldn't do it at home even though we are only a few kilometres from the border." Nat missed 11 days of school and six days on the snow.
"On day 10 we had to walk to the hospital and have our COVID test and then we finished on the Sunday night," Ms Young said.
IN OTHER NEWS:
"If we lived in Albury, where there were three active cases at the time, Nat would have been back at school no questions asked.
"And yet in Wodonga, where there were no active cases, we were forced to jump through hoops.
"I feel like we were penalised for our postcode. I couldn't see any reason why a child from a COVID-free area in Victoria couldn't."