Projects under threat: Schools blow stimulus budgets

Correspondence obtained by the State Opposition shows 402 of the 720 fully-tendered school projects are over budget and 328 projects are under budget.

The letter to the Federal Government from the state heads of the school infrastructure program said major changes to building projects were needed to avoid them being scrapped altogether.

Sent in August, the letter said schools that were under budget were refusing to hand over money to schools that needed more.

NSW Education Minister Verity Firth says since then, some schools have been convinced to share funding.

"Close to 50 per cent of principals have in fact agreed to, if they're under budget, redirect some of their funds to those projects that are over budget," she said.

But Opposition education spokesman Adrian Piccoli says the stimulus money should have been handed directly to schools to avoid State Government mismanagement.

"This would have made it much cheaper and would have allowed NSW to fit within its budget and deliver great projects for our schools," he said.

"The Labor Government in NSW have got a dreadful track record of delivering infrastructure and this is just the latest example."