Adelaide public school logjam threatens city’s growth, warns Rex Patrick

Families that moved into the zones for Adelaide’s two high schools are being rejected – and there are fears that could hurt the whole city.

Nearly 100 eligible students have been unable to get into Adelaide High School – and 20 are in the same plight at Adelaide Botanic – despite their families living in the schools’ shared zone.

Sending students to near-city schools instead is also not an option, as they are already full with local students and have waiting lists for students living outside their zones.

“It’s forcing parents to send their children to private schools,” said Senator Rex Patrick who has provided new data highlighting the extent of the problem.

The Education Department said all eligible students who applied in time to enter Year 8 this year had been accepted, and for 2022, those entering at years 7 and 8 would be placed.

However, families new to the area, students moving schools or applying later than May 21 for 2022 entry might not get in.

Senator Patrick said the situation flew in the face of government policy to grow the city’s population and jobs.

SA Senator Rex Patrick tried to get his daughter Audrey, 14, into Adelaide Botanic High but was rejected. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

“If you live in Adelaide, or you’re thinking of coming to Adelaide to work in places like Lot Fourteen, the universities, the biomedical precinct with SAHMRI, you’re not going to be able to send your child to a nearby high school,” he said.

“That is not acceptable.”

Senator Patrick latched onto the issue when he was unable to find a public school for his daughter, Audrey, when she moved to Adelaide from NSW.

He needed the Ombudsman to intervene to ensure a freedom of information application extracted the data.

It follows earlier FOI data supplied to Opposition education spokesman Blair Boyer which predicts the two city schools and several others will be overwhelmed by local applicants next year.

Data supplied to Senator Patrick showed:

AT Adelaide High, 71 eligible students missed out in 2020. That number has increased to 99 this year, 17 of whom were late applicants for Year 8.

AT Adelaide Botanic High, four eligible students could not get in last year, but this grew to 20 this year, eight of them late applicants for Year 8.

Many near-city schools face similar problems and cannot take the overflow of city residents. These include:

NORWOOD-MORIALTA, which has not accepted any out-of-zone students for at least two years;

GLENUNGA International, which has been full since 2016 and where in-zone families wanting to enrol a Year 7 or 8 student in 2022, must either own their property or hold a rental lease valid to at least December 2022;

UNLEY, which says it only “occasionally” accepts an out-of-zone student;

PLYMPTON International, which will be full from 2022; and

ROMA Mitchell, which “has had significant enrolments and thus issues with our capacity”.

Education Department executive director Anne Millard said capacity-management plans had been put in place in high-growth areas.

“Our priority is for local students to attend their local school,” she said. “However, there are circumstances where families do not meet capacity- management plan criteria, such as when they move … midway through the school year. If that happens, support is provided to help families find a suitable alternative.”

Adelaide Botanic High School in the CBD.

Families should consider their options before moving house, she said.

Mr Boyer said the government was not doing enough to ease the problem.

“We know many parents buy a house in the zone with the intent of their children being eligible to attend Adelaide, Adelaide Botanic or those near-city schools,” he said.

“It’s a huge blow to those parents to find out their kid can’t get in.

“There are only a few options but the government hasn’t got a plan.

“You can change the zone – which they did at Adelaide leaving hundreds of families in the western suburbs in the lurch.

“Or you can expand capacity or build a new school.

“But we’ve heard nothing about those options.”

An Education Department said there were no plans to change zones other than measures already announced.

New schools were being built at Aldinga and Angle Vale and the $1.3bn building program would upgrade facilities and create room for Year7s in secondary schools.

Applications via the department for 2022 are open now. Families can apply for their zoned school plus up to three others outside their zone.