Glenunga International High restricts enrolments to crack down on parents manipulating zoning system

ONE of Adelaide’s most highly regarded high schools will crack down on parents who temporarily move into its zone just to secure places for their children, in a move to stem surging enrolments.

Hand Rasied in Classroom

ONE of Adelaide’s most highly regarded high schools will crack down on parents who move into its zone temporarily just to secure places for their children, in a move to stem surging enrolments.

Glenunga International High School is bursting at the seams with about 1750 enrolments, up from 1595 in 2014 and rising 20 per cent in the past five years.

Principal Wendy Johnson said the strong reputation of the school resulted in families, often from overseas and interstate, manipulating the zoning system by renting in the area for 12 months to gain enrolment status. They then moved elsewhere.

Ms Johnson said an enrolment register for Years 9 to 12 would now give priority to students who had lived in the area the longest.

She was confident the school could cater for all children living in the area who needed a Year 8 place, up to 350 students.

“(Enrolments are) 1750 at the moment, that’s a really good size for a secondary school. We just can’t take in any more because we are full,” she said.

“Lots of people move in for 12 months, get the enrolment, then leave. That’s what this is designed to address.”

Ms Johnson said 200 families from outside the school zone attempted to register for enrolment within a 48-hour period alone late last year.

She said Glenunga was popular because of the variety and quality of its academic programs and extra-curricular activities but parents new to the state needed to realise there were “lots of really good schools” to choose from.

Glenunga has already reduced its international student intake from 140 to 70 over the past few years and it will now be capped at that level, Ms Johnson said.

Its “IGNITE” program for gifted and talented children, which takes many students from outside its zone, will also be capped at 100 Year 8 places. Those 100 are are part of an overall cap of 325 Year 8s, but Ms Johnson said this could be stretched to 350.

There will be no more than 10 International Baccalaureate enrolments for Years 11 and 12 from outside the zone.

Opposition education spokesman John Gardner said the State Government had “constantly refused” to consider the impact on schools of its 30-year plan for Adelaide.

“It’s not like we couldn’t see this coming, when the Government has been pushing this policy of urban infill in our communities,” he said.

Mr Gardner said the proposal for a large housing development on former Glenside Hospital land would put further pressure on local schools.

Education Department Executive Director for School and Preschool Improvement Anne Millard said the “capacity management plan” at Glenunga would give families “a clear and transparent tool” for understanding enrolment procedures.

“If needed, it will assist families to find a vacancy at another high school in the surrounding area, all of which offer a quality education through the public system,” she said.

The plan, which will be reviewed annually, comes after the State Government spent $14 million on the school in recent years to raise its capacity.