Public schools crack down on parents flouting strict out-of-area zone rules

Some Melbourne parents go to extreme measures to get their kids into top public schools — including renting empty houses and forging utility bills. Now schools are cracking down.

McKinnon Secondary College is among several state schools cracking down on out-of-area zone rules.

State government schools are turning to extreme measures to catch parents who are flouting strict out-of-area zone rules by lying on official documents.

The Herald Sun can reveal school officials are taking a “hard-line approach” and cracking down on parents by requesting proof-of-ownership letters from real estate agents and evidence of 12-month lease agreements.

Parents say the schools monitoring out-of-area enrolments include in-demand secondary colleges McKinnon, Box Hill, Vermont, Glen Waverley and Frankston High School.

Some of the loopholes parents are using to get around the strict rules include asking friends who live in their school zones to transfer utility bills into their names.

Families are even renting empty houses in their desired zone to enrol their child into the school.

Under strict zoning rules, students found not to be genuine residents within a school’s catchment area are not allowed to enrol there.

However the Education Department has previously confirmed that it would not force children to move schools if they leave a zone.

One mother, whose child attends McKinnon Secondary College, said the school requested several proof of residence documents upon her son’s enrolment.

“We had to provide utility bills, our rental agreement and a letter from our real estate agent to confirm we were still living at the address,” she said.

“They’re obviously taking a hard-line approach because I know of other parents lying on forms to get their kids into good schools.”

Balwyn High School says it actively monitors and enforces permanent residency in the zone. Picture: Supplied

On a popular schools discussion group on Facebook, which has more than 8000 members, parents are asking for advice on how to attend schools outside their respective zones.

One parent said: “Because of the high proportion of people gaming the system by moving into the zone for one year or listing kids at addresses that aren’t their own, they (schools) have got very strict at many of the high-demand public schools”.

Over the years, some of the most prestigious zoned state high schools have conducted door knocks and ID checks.

Parents had also dobbed each other in, resentful about others breaking the strict residency rules.

Schools such as Balwyn High in the state’s leafy east, issued a warning saying permanent residency in the zone would be actively monitored and enforced.

One Balwyn High family who applied for their child to start in year 7 in 2018 were doorknocked out of the blue by an assistant principal after using a post office box rather than street address.

Education Minister Natalie Hutchins said every student had the right to attend their local school.

“Students can also enrol at a school outside their zone – if the school has sufficient space – and it aligns with the school’s enrolment management plan,” Ms Hutchins said.

“The Andrews Labor government has invested more than $30bn in school programs and infrastructure to ensure every school is a great local school.”.

The state government has built a second campus for McKinnon Secondary College in the Virginia Park East Bentleigh precinct which opened in 2022.