Eastern suburbs high school must be top priority for next NSW government, says Randwick mum

The incoming president of Randwick Boys High School has slammed the response to community demand for more public school choice in the eastern suburbs.

Randwick Boys High School at Randwick in Sydney.

A Randwick mum and president of an eastern suburbs school P&C has made a last-ditch plea for a commitment on improving public school choice in Sydney’s east, claiming the community had been “given scraps”.

Leanne Bergan, a former parent at Randwick Boys High School and incoming president of its P & C said the long running issue had reached a breaking point as eastern suburbs families struggled with cost of living pressures.

Analysis shows parents with two children enrolled in private schools that charge an average of $40,000 would pay the weekly equivalent of a $1.2m mortgage.

Despite this, about 50 per cent of eastern suburbs’ parents choose public primary schools, but only 20 per cent of the area’s children attend public high schools.

Ms Bergan said it had led parents to stretch finances to put children in local private and religious schools, as a result of the limited options.

Leanne Bergan and her son Jack 15, and Jacqueline Somosi with her son Axel 16. Picture: Tim Hunter.

Randwick Boys High School at Randwick in Sydney.

Of the east’s public schools, Rose Bay Secondary College at Dover Heights and Inner Sydney High School at Surry Hills are the two remaining coeducational options.

Ms Bergan said the challenge facing public high schools was the standard of facilities. She agreed Rose Bay was not at capacity and noted Randwick Boys and Girls took in half its students from out of the area.

(L-R) Triplet's Ethan, Noah and Caleb Steinmann are seen at Randwick Boys High School after completing the English HSC paper in Sydney, Thursday, October 18, 2018. Picture: Brendan Esposito.

A Department of Education spokesman said a new consultation was underway by an independent agency to “canvass community views, including possible changes to intake areas and future options for both single-sex and coeducational settings”.

Six proposals will be canvassed, with the most radical to establish a new, single coeducational campus at the current location by merging existing schools Randwick Boys High School and Randwick Girls High School.

But Ms Bergan said the consultation was not holistic because a potential merger would reduce choice across single sex options.

“I think it’s very knee jerk,” she said. “I think that it’s coming from political pressure. They’ve politicised our schools and that’s what annoys me. They’re talking about choice, but then removing the only choice of single-sex non-selective public schools”

Wentworth MP Allegra Spender. Picture: Martin Ollman.

Karen Freyer. Picture: Renee Nowytarger.

Ms Bergan said financial support, most recently $5m for facilities for the high schools, was minor compared with major party pledges for primary schools, including a significant upgrade at Clovelly Public School by the NSW Liberals leading into the NSW election.

“We are now getting a minor upgrade and that feels like we’ve been given scraps”, she said.

Vaucluse independent candidate Karen Freyer – who has made a new eastern suburbs high school central to her campaign – has demanded “transparency” on current population projections will determine the timeline for a new school.

“Several high schools in the east have closed in the past two decades, including Vaucluse and North Randwick,” Ms Freyer said.

Wentworth teal MP Allegra Spender has shared support for more public high school choice in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, calling it the issue raised “the most out of any local issue”.