Public education: Demand for new public high school not urgent, Vaucluse MP Gabrielle Upton claims

Outgoing Vaucluse MP has rejected claims a second public high school was urgently needed in the eastern suburbs, claiming research shows demand for a new school is still many years away.

State Member for Vaucluse Gabrielle Upton says it will be several years before there will be enough demand for a new public high school in the area. Picture: John Appleyard

Outgoing Vaucluse MP Gabrielle Upton has hit back at claims a new public high school in Sydney’s affluent eastern suburbs is urgently needed, defending the NSW Government’s track record on education.

Despite this, recent moves to canvass community support for a high school merger have raised the temperature on the contentious issue.

The NSW Government announced it would undertake a public consultation with the community around whether two public high schools in the seat of Coogee, Randwick Boys High School and Randwick Girls High School, should be merged to create a larger coeducational school.

Another option to be canvassed will be to extend the intake areas of existing coeducational high schools to provide families with the option of single-sex or coeducation.

Rose Bay Secondary College at Rose Bay and South Sydney High School at Maroubra are currently the only non-religious co-ed public high schools in the eastern suburbs.

State Member for Vaucluse Gabrielle Upton has praised a new public consultation set to explore options for public higher education in the east. Picture: John Appleyard

Minister Education and Early Learning Sarah Mitchell said at the time the NSW Government wanted to ensure the consultation captured the views of the whole of the eastern suburbs.

“We want to engage constructively with the local school communities to ensure that we identify and plan for the best option for public secondary education in the eastern suburbs,” Ms Mitchell said.

Rose Bay Secondary College is one of only two public co-ed high schools in the east. Picture: James Gourley

While a growing chorus of community voices have called for a new public high school to encourage parents facing financial strain to consider the public school sector, the NSW Government has maintained a new school wasn’t yet needed.

Ms Upton’s office said in a statement, based on the current population projections eastern suburbs schools were able to accommodate current and future student demand through existing schools.

Ms Upton also defended her own track record as Vaucluse MP and said what was needed was proactive future planning.

Ms Upton disagreed with accusations – including from the independent Vaucluse candidate Karen Freyer – a lack of state funding had left the school in a state of disrepair.

Picture: John Appleyard

Wentworth MP Allegra Spender and Sydney state MP Alex Greenwich have called for urgent investment in a second public high school.

She namechecked more than $3 million in investments in multipurpose sports courts and $100,000 for upgrades to the toilet facilities as evidence of a “pattern of investment and support” of the public high school.

Additionally she backed Education Department research which states Rose Bay Secondary College was not full, “in the sense that there are still places there”.

“I wanted to make sure that we‘re planning for future changes,” Ms Upton said. “We don’t need a new school immediately.”

Wentworth MP Allegra Spender and Sydney MP Alex Greenwich disagree. In September, the pair demanded a long-term plan for public higher education in a letter to NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell, arguing soaring private school fees and a lack of public education options were negatively impacting families and students.

Lobby group Community for Local Options for Secondary Education (CLOSE) has publicly stated there was a lack of coeducational and same sex public options in the eastern suburbs.