Illawong Public School Out-Of-Area Enrolment

About this Item
Speakers - Downy Mr Christopher; Aquilina Mr John
Business - Private Members Statements

ILLAWONG PUBLIC SCHOOL OUT-OF-AREA ENROLMENT

Mr DOWNY (Sutherland) [6.02 p.m.]: I raise a matter tonight on behalf of Mr and Mrs Manolaros, who are constituents of mine living in the suburb of Illawong. This matter has been the subject of much toing and froing between Mr and Mrs Manolaros, the Department of School Education, the Minister and me for a long period. It basically concerns an application for out-of-area enrolment at Illawong Public School. I will not go into the full details because it would take too long. Mr and Mrs Manolaros live in Wilbung Road, Illawong. One building block away is the boundary between Illawong Public School and Tharawal Public School. Mr and Mrs Manolaros have been forced to send their five-year-old daughter to Tharawal Public School, which is 1.6 kilometres away from their place of residence, as opposed to Illawong Public School, which is only 800 metres away.

Mr and Mrs Manolaros realise that because of the population explosion in the Menai area there have to be enrolment boundaries for the schools in the area, but they felt that they had been disadvantaged by a decision of the Department of School Education. The difficulties are compounded by the fact that Mr and Mrs Manolaros are a one-car family: Mrs Manolaros does not drive a car. She has to accompany her daughter to school by bus. It is costing approximately $24 a week for Mrs Manolaros to travel on the bus with her five-year-old daughter to Tharawal Public School.

Mr and Mrs Manolaros have a two-year-old child as well. In the morning it takes Mrs Manolaros an hour and 15 minutes to travel to the school and back, and the travelling time in the afternoon is 35 minutes. It was hoped that the child by this stage would have overcome her anxieties, but even four months after starting school this year she is still worrying every day about whether her mother will be there to pick her up or will be running late. The department should take into account the local circumstances more than it has in this case. The department could not see sufficient reason for allowing an out-of-area enrolment. Apart from the financial and emotional cost to the Manolaroses, children in surrounding streets who play with their daughter attend Illawong school and she is the only child in the local area who travels to Tharawal Public School.

Now is the time for enrolments at local schools. Recently another constituent visited me with a similar problem with regard to Bangor Public School. More consideration should be given to geographic location in relation to school boundaries in the Menai area. The constituent who visited me recently lives much closer to Bangor Public School than to Menai Public School, yet he has been told that he will have to enrol his daughter in Menai Public School. However, children living on the northern side of Menai Road, which is further away from Bangor Public School, will be eligible for enrolment at Bangor Public School. I note that the Minister is at the table and I certainly do not want to ambush him on this subject but I would ask him to consider this issue. [Time expired.]

Mr AQUILINA (Riverstone - Minister for Education and Training, and Minister Assisting the Premier on Youth Affairs) [6.07 p.m.]: Unfortunately, I did not have any prior knowledge that this matter would be raised. I note that the honourable member for Sutherland has apologised for that. Had I been given some prior knowledge I would have undertaken to look into the details of the matter. I have sympathy in relation to the issues the honourable member raised. They are not uncommon: they are relevant to many hundreds if not thousands
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of children right across the State. There are always accommodation pressures on schools.

Despite the fact that we have a no-zoning policy, each school has an appropriate feeder area and principals must give priority to the students in the feeder area before accepting students from outside the feeder area. Because of population density, in many cases the feeder area for a local school may not necessarily be the closest to the school. It is difficult to explain to parents why that happens, but at all times we try to ensure that there is not undue hardship for parents and for students in accessing their local school or their appropriately designated school. I will look at the details outlined by the honourable member for Sutherland and see whether we can accommodate the concerns of his constituents. My departmental officers will provide me with a report and I will furnish that to the honourable member in the hope that we may be able to resolve the issues that he has raised today.

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