Brisbane South State Secondary College this year opened with 203 foundation Year 7 students, but about 65 per cent of those are estimated to be from outside the school’s catchment zone, according to data obtained from the Education Department.

The proportion of out-of-catchment foundation Year 7 students at Fortitude Valley State Secondary College in 2020 was 55.5 per cent of 137 pupils, which reduced to 46.5 per cent this year as the school enrolled 301 Year 7 and 8 students.

When announcing the new inner-south high school would be built in 2017, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said it would “take enrolment pressure off Brisbane State High School” and cater for growth.

Building the new Fortitude Valley State Secondary College was announced at the same time, with then Education Minister Kate Jones saying the Advancing Inner-City Schools initiative would help alleviate inner-city enrolment pressure.

The $140 million Dutton Park school is still under construction but will have capacity for more than 1,600 secondary students across Year 7–2 by 2026, while the $100 million Fortitude Valley campus is set to encompass 1,500 pupils across all high school year levels by 2025.

‘Not unexpected’

An Education Department spokesperson said the out-of-catchment numbers were not unexpected in a foundation year when both schools have “established, well-regarded high schools close by”.

“All state schools are required to accept local students first before they accept students from outside the catchment,” the spokesperson said.

According to 2020 Education Department enrolment figures, Brisbane State High School had 3,350 high school students, and Kelvin Grove State College had 2,709 secondary pupils.

State High still popular

Brisbane State High School school council chair David Gillespie said this year there were an unexpected 90 additional local students enrolled at the state high school, which resulted in classrooms being held in the library.

He said the touted reason the new school at Dutton Park was being built was to alleviate enrolment pressure on Brisbane State High School.

“It doesn’t seem to have done that unless you take the view if it were not for that, we would be in even worse trouble,” he said.

Gillespie said after the announcement of the new Dutton Park school, there was extensive discussion among the local community, including nearby schools and residents.

“There was a uniform position that building this school would not solve enrolment pressure at Brisbane State High School, and sadly we’ve been proven correct,” he said.

‘Will grow over time’

However, Education Minister Grace Grace said: “As I have seen at FVSSC in my own electorate, in-catchment enrolments build as a new school establishes itself, and its reputation, in its local community”.

The Education Department spokesperson said over time, the number and proportion of in-catchment students would grow as the new schools continue “to establish themselves in the community and as more year levels are added”.

“The growth of in-catchment students is reflected in the increase in in-catchment students from 2020 to 2021 at Fortitude Valley SSC,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said official enrolment figures, captured on day 8 of the first school term, were still being verified and would not be publicly available for about another month.

– ABC / Antonia O’Flaherty