By Brendan Rees
Despite Cranbourne East Secondary College being practically on their doorstep, parents of 12-year-old Destiny have been left fuming they may not be able to enrol her next year.
It comes as the State Government reviews school zones, with some boundaries set to be redrawn.
For Brendan and Joanne Clarke of Cranbourne East, the changes now mean they roll dice as to whether their daughter is accepted for enrolment at Cranbourne East Secondary College in 2020.
According to Mr Clarke, their Greenock Crescent home – despite being less than 2km away from the school – has been cut off following the boundary rezoning. The school may accept their enrolment so long as it has enough space.
The State Government’s Department of Education and Training (DET) website states some zones have changed for the 2020 school year.
Mr Clarke said it simply did not make sense: “We’re pretty annoyed at the moment this has happened.”
“We haven’t been given any heads up or any warning to our knowledge. They’ve just gone ahead and done it.”
According to Mr Clarke, his wife sent the Education Department an email, only to be told “it is what it is and you’ve got to deal with it now.”
The couple, whose daughter is currently in Grade 6 at Cranbourne East Primary School, say enrolling their other children, aged 6 and 10 at Cranbourne East Secondary College remained doubtful.
“If my daughter had of been in high school this year then there would be no problems because when one sibling is in all the rest can follow,” he said.
“They’ve actually gone further out to the country to let them go there and they’re miles away, but we can’t go there and we’re right near the school.
“We’ve been in the Hunt Club nearly 17 years now at the same house, we built there and all of a sudden they’ve changed it,” Mr Clarke added.
Minister for Education James Merlino said: “Every child has the right to enrol at their closest government school.”
“Parents can look up school zones online by visiting our new Find My School Website,” he said.
The website enables parents to enter their home address online and see their local school zone.
In a statement, DET said: “The schools have always had the choice to accommodate children living outside a school’s zone if there is enough space – this has not changed.”
