Wagga leaders are calling for action on a public high school for the city's north after the state education minister weighed into the matter.
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Prue Car promised to turn her attention to potential future education needs such as a new high school in Wagga's northern suburbs on Tuesday after Wagga MP Joe McGirr pressed her on the issue during question time at parliament.
"Given that Wagga has a population target of 100,000 people within the next two decades, will the minister and the government support the commencement of planning for a new high school in the city's rapidly growing northern suburbs?" Dr McGirr asked the minister.
In response, Ms Car agreed it is important to factor in planning for new schools with rising populations.
"I acknowledge the [huge] growth in the member's electorate around areas such as Estella and the northern suburbs," she said.
"This is important to those communities. I do not want us to make the mistake that previous governments have [made]."
Ms Car also welcomed the prospect of working with Dr McGirr down the track.
"I look forward to working with him on ensuring that, if there is a need for further provision [of education], the communities of the northern suburbs of Wagga get the first-class public education they deserve," she said.
In response, Dr McGirr congratulated the minister for recognising the issue is an important concern for the Wagga community.
"She has highlighted the importance of getting planning for facilities like schools right in suburbs that grow."
Dr McGirr said the question of future education needs in Wagga's northern suburbs is an "emerging issue" that needs attention.
"We've got 80 kids enrolling in kindergarten at Estella Public School," he said.
Dr McGirr said analysis of figures like student enrolments was important when planning for the future and said plans ought to be made to get a new high school in the northern suburbs "in the next five to 10 years."
Estella Public School parents and citizens association president Sarah Humphries agrees it's an issue that needs attention.
"If you look at where growth is occurring in Wagga, we are expanding rapidly out in the north," Ms Humphries said.
She said driving this is vacant land being released and developed across Gobbagombalin, Boorooma and Estella.
"It's certainly where growth is being pushed and where a lot of young families are moving out to," she said.
Ms Humphries said it's also "pretty evident" just how much Estella Public School, now in its fourth year, has grown since it first opened in 2021.
She said the school has four kindergarten classes this year alone, and expects that to continue into the future.
In light of this, Ms Humphries said it's important to have a school in the northern suburbs to send those children to when they complete Year 6, noting that at present they are all zoned to attend Wagga High School.
"It seems wild to me to think we have built a school...[tracking] to be the biggest school in Wagga, [but] all the students are then going to go to Wagga High," she said.
Ms Humphries said she doesn't see how they would all fit at the high school.
While noting the good reputation of The Riverina Anglican College, she said it was also sad to see no public high school option in the northern suburbs.
"It starts to put pressure on families out this way that they do need to choose private education, because that's our nearest option," she said.