Non Local / Out of Area Enrolment Policy - NSW Dept of Education
Petitioner:
Mrs Erin Allott
| Member:
Kean, Matt
| No. of Signatories:
669
| Date closed:
03/02/2021
To the Speaker and Members of the Legislative Assembly,
In July 2019 a revised enrolment policy was implemented into NSW Government Schools to address out of area enrolments.
Under the new policy, school principals were given a population limit based on permanent building structures, disregarding demountable classroom capacity. This has meant that school principals are actively trying to reduce their student numbers to bring them inline with the cap.
For families with children enrolled prior to July 2019, this policy did not exist and parents are now forced to make a decision between having children attend separate schools or relocating older siblings to another school. This has caused an extreme amount of stress and anxiety for the parents and students involved.
We would propose that the policy be updated, across NSW, to be family friendly, ensuring that families with students already enrolled at out of area / non local schools have younger siblings accepted without the need for review by an enrolment panel, effective immediately.
