By Jordan Baker
Families at Randwick's single-sex state high schools say both school communities are in "frustrating" limbo because the NSW government is delaying a decision on whether to open Randwick Boys' High School to girls.
A year after the idea was floated and six months after a survey was held to canvas community views on the proposal, no decision been made and an attempt to access the survey results under freedom of information laws has been refused.
Randwick Boys' might become a co-ed school.Credit: Louise Kennerley
"We are frustrated to the point where some of us say whatever the outcome is, we don't care any more - we want the upgrades that have been announced more than a year ago," said Randwick Boys' P&C President Birgit Schickinger.
'We can live with the decision, but what we find hard is this uncertainty and lack of transparency. It's frustrating the school, the school executive, the teachers, the staff."
A public survey about the future of Randwick Boys' High school was conducted almost six months ago amid a heated debate ahead of the March state election over whether a new school was needed in the marginal electorate.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian at Randwick Boys' High School, which could become a co-ed school. Credit: AAP
Labor promised an entirely new, co-ed public school for the region, while the Coalition said it was examining a proposal to preserve Randwick Girls' but turn Randwick Boys' High into a co-ed school. It intended to use the results of the survey to inform its decision.
The boys' school's P&C and principal support the proposal, while the girls' school principal opposes it. Upgrades have been promised for both schools – where many facilities have not been updated since the 1960s – but cannot go ahead until a decision is made.
The schools' forward planning and P&C investments are also on hold. The girls' school has $100,000 in money raised by parents that is ready to spend.
Several girls turned up at a Randwick Boys' information night earlier this year, hoping they might be among the first girls at the school. Families are also emailing the P&C, asking when the school will become co-educational.
Local Labor MP Marjorie O'Neill tried to access the survey results under FOI laws, but her request was refused because "disclosure would reveal the position the minister will or is likely to take on the matter."
Dr O'Neill, who won the seat off Liberal MP Bruce Notley-Smith in March and supports an entirely new co-ed public high school in the eastern suburbs, told the Sun-Herald the school communities were "really anxious. It's not fair to these schools."
Both P&Cs wrote to Education Minister Sarah Mitchell in May, asking for "an urgent update". "To our knowledge, the final report [on transitioning Randwick Boys' to a co-ed school] was given to the former education minister, Rob Stokes, prior to the NSW state election," the joint letter said.
The decision is a tricky one for the government. It might solve a problem in the eastern suburbs, but would empower campaigns in other parts of Sydney to merge girls' and boys' schools, such as in Canterbury and in Hornsby.
Some also fear the boys' campus would struggle to become truly co-educational, given it is adjacent to a girl's school."What you might end up with is potentially a 70-30 split," said Labor MP Jihad Dib, who used to be principal of Punchbowl Boys' High school.
"It will take a long time to get a half-half balance. Many parents prefer to send their girls to a girls' school and their boys to a co-ed school."
Licia Heath from CLOSE East, the group campaigning for a new eastern suburbs school, said the delay was "really stressful for parents in those communities. Not only is there not an outcome, it is total radio silence."
Ms Heath said the government seemed less interested in the issue now that the election was over. "We had concerns that the whole scenario was a bit of a red herring," she said. "Is it an electorally important issue, or is it actually an important issue?"
A spokesman for the NSW Department of Education said "proper planning for the delivery of effective teaching and learning in the best possible public school facilities is one of the department’s highest priorities.
"Information obtained during the consultation process with the local community and other key stakeholders is being carefully assessed by the department. Outcomes from this assessment will be made public."
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