By Lucy Carroll
Independent MPs Alex Greenwich and Allegra Spender will push for a new public high school in eastern Sydney, saying a lack of secondary school options has forced families to move catchments or abandon the public system entirely.
The pair have written to NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell calling for a long-term plan to expand public education in the eastern suburbs, pointing to a large and growing population unable to afford high-fee private schools and surging demand for co-ed alternatives.
Independent MPs Allegra Spender and Alex Greenwich are calling for a long-term plan to expand public education in the eastern suburbs.Credit: Louie Douvis
“We need a plan for access to comprehensive public education in the east. The endpoint for that is another comprehensive high school, but it’s also reviewing other options like expanding and making Randwick Boys’ or Girls’ High co-educational,” Spender said.
Spender, the federal member for Wentworth, said there were few public high school options, despite plans for medium- to high-density development – including some affordable housing – across the Waverley, Randwick and Woollahra local government areas.
“This was the biggest local issue raised with me leading up to the federal election,” she said.
Lobby group Community for Local Options for Secondary Education (CLOSE) has for years called for a new, mixed-gender public high school, saying there is not enough capacity at Rose Bay Secondary College and that single-sex Randwick Boys’ and Girls’ are the only other options in the immediate area.
In 2019, the NSW Department of Education rejected a proposal to turn Randwick Boys’ High into a co-ed school despite a survey showing strong support within the eastern suburbs community.
There are at least 20 private high schools in the eastern and inner-city areas, some charging year 12 fees upwards of $40,000. The six public high schools in the eastern suburbs include J J Cahill Memorial High, Matraville Sport, Rose Bay Secondary College, South Sydney High and Randwick Boys’ and Girls’.
The proportion of all NSW students enrolled in public high schools has dropped from 61 per cent in 2018 to 58.4 per cent in 2022.
“As the cost of living and school fees continue to rise, private school fees are going on credit cards and parents are remortgaging their homes,” Greenwich, the NSW member for Sydney, said.
“When you’re looking at school fees per student of $30,000 to $40,000 a year, and when you’ve got two or three kids, that is a massive cost.”
Greenwich, who led the campaign for the new $135 million Inner Sydney High School on the site of the former Cleveland Street High, said it would take some years to find the site, plan and build a new school. “Inner Sydney is thriving. Let’s copy that model and put another one east,” he said.
CLOSE spokeswoman Licia Heath said there was an illusion of choice when it came to high school choices in the east, particularly in the state seats of Vaucluse and Coogee.
“In Coogee, there are two single-sex high schools where there’s demand for co-ed and there’s been a truly shameful delay in promised funding for infrastructure upgrades,” she said.
A NSW Department of Education spokesperson said that the six eastern suburbs public high schools had utilisation rates below 100 per cent.
“There is vacancy to accommodate a further 2690 student enrolments. Upgrades to Randwick Boys’ High School and Randwick Girls’ High School are currently in planning to include learning spaces to meet the needs of the community.”
There are 1279 students enrolled at Rose Bay Secondary College, but once this passes 1280 the school is restricted to enrolments only from within the catchment.
The spokesperson said, that based on current NSW population projections, there was no need to “provide additional teaching spaces in the Randwick area”.
State member for Coogee Marjorie O’Neill wants the needs of local parents to be addressed by the government, rather than “pushed down the road”.
“Families in the eastern suburbs deserve a choice when it comes to public high schools,” O’Neill said.
Vaucluse MP Gabrielle Upton, who will not be contesting the March election, said further investment was needed in the infrastructure at Rose Bay Secondary College, including updating the toilet blocks.
“It is an excellent school with committed teachers and a selective stream. It is not over capacity and we need to be thoughtful and methodical about building new schools. It’s not clear that is the solution,” Upton said.
Eastern suburbs parent Jackie Blum plans to send her two sons, Charlie and Alfie, to her local public school, South Sydney High.
“I don’t agree with single-sex schools and I knew I wanted co-education for them,” she said. “We can’t afford $30,000 for each child in private school fees, and then a mortgage and living expenses. There needs to be better public education, more choice, and it has to be more available.”
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