No schools for Perths Western Suburbs

[Ktee]

Western Australia's peak body for parents of public students says expanding two high schools in the western suburbs will not be enough to deal with population growth, after it was revealed plans for a new facility have been pushed back by almost a decade.

 

Key points:

 

New school for western suburbs delayed until after 2027

Expansion plans for existing schools "not good enough"

Peak parents body worried school classes will blow out

Government says delay due to lease on site they want to develop

 

A new school was supposed to be opened in City Beach by 2019, but the Education Minister has now revealed that will not happen until after 2027, because the preferred location is under a lease until then.

 

The Government dedicated $90 million to expand Churchlands Senior High School and Shenton College.

 

But WA Council of State School Organisations president Kylie Catto said more needed to be done.

 

"I have no doubt that parents in those western suburbs areas that are going to be directly affected by this delay will be extremely disappointed," she said.

 

"If there's overflowing senior high schools and no plan on the horizon for a permanent new school it's worrying for parents, it reduces the options available to them and it creates an air of uncertainty.

 

"When we have senior high schools that are getting up around the 3,000-student mark, that's too big for a senior high school in Western Australia.

 

"For Treasury not to be able to allocate the money and the Government not to be able to give some kind of firm commitment is indeed worrying for parents who are looking for some certainty in terms of the education path for their students."

 

Ms Catto said expanding existing schools had its own issues.

 

"When schools are expanded it's not just a matter of the classrooms," she said.

 

"It's all of the specialist and support facilities that also need to be expanded to cater for a massively growing population."

 

The new school was intended to accommodate 2,000 students.

 

Western suburbs 'run out of room'

 

Public schools in the western suburbs have become increasingly crowded since the closure of three high schools in the area.

 

Education Minister Peter Collier said the Government was still working on a plan.

 

"The situation in the western suburbs is that we have run out of room, that's evident," he said.

 

"We've got one school in terms of Churchlands [senior High School], which is bursting at the seams, and a similar situation at Shenton [College].

 

"We do need a third high school in that area."

 

Churchlands SHS has almost 2,500 students enrolled this year, while Shenton College has 1,946.

 

The former City Beach High School site had been identified as the preferred location for the new school, but it was leased to the International School of WA until 2027.

 

Mr Collier said the Government had "exhausted all options" in terms of alternative sites, and the new school would eventually be built at the International School site.

[Bibbs]

They shouldn't have merged Swanbourne and Hollywood.

 

(I'm an ex Hollywood student)

[Rossmoyne]

As a retired Dept of Education employee, I can categorically say that City Beach High School should never have been closed and the property leased elsewhere. We all said at the time that the decision to do so would come back and bite them, but the pollies would not listen to those who knew better. Why don't the pollies listen?