Opposition Leader Mark McGowan announced plans for an inner city school on Sunday and Opposition education spokeswoman Sue Ellery told the Western Suburbs Weekly yesterday that Labor would honour the Liberal Government’s commitment to move the International School of WA to Doubleview PS and the Japanese School to City Beach Primary School.
Under Labor’s plan, which will leave the City Beach site empty, Perth Modern School would relocate to a new site in the CBD above the Perth bus port. The current Subiaco site would be turned into a secondary public school for western suburbs students.
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Nedlands Labor candidate Penny Taylor said the announcement addressed education issues currently faced in the western suburbs.
“The new CBD academic high school will transition with Perth Modern School, with Perth Modern becoming a local area intake school and relieving catchment pressure on Shenton College, Churchlands Senior High School and Mt Lawley High School,” she said.
Western suburbs group We Need A High School spokesman James Fuller said it was good to see a detailed policy from Labor, but he was not sure if it would solve the issues in the western suburbs.
Education Minister Peter Collier announced an $84 million refurbishment of the former City Beach High School site in September last year, which would be opened as a secondary public school by 2020 to help with overcrowding in the western suburbs.
Mr Collier said the International School of WA (ISWA) would relocate to the 5.7ha Doubleview site in 2019 and share the land with the new $15 million primary school.
The Metro North West Joint Development Assessment Panel approved plans for the expansion of Doubleview Primary School last week despite community opposition.
The panel approved the proposal to develop JK Lyon Reserve for new buildings for the primary school.
Resident and Save Doubleview Action Group spokeswoman Claire Sharman said the outcome to the meeting was disappointing.
But Doubleview PS principal Greg Fisher told the panel that the current public open space was more than adequate and he did not believe the site would be cramped with two schools.