Port Stephens MP Kate Washington again has urged the government to clarify its position on a new public high school in Medowie after a Catholic secondary school opened in the town last week.
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Ms Washington told Parliament on Wednesday evening that a public high school was still necessary because more than 1000 children still travelled by bus out of Medowie and nearby towns to go to school.
Catherine McAuley Catholic College opened last week in Medowie for 180 year 7 students and 90 in year 8.
The college, which has a waiting list and 80 expressions of interest for year 7 next year, draws pupils from three Catholic feeder primary schools in Raymond Terrace, Nelson Bay and Bulahdelah.
"Right now, 1000 more homes are being built in Medowie," Ms Washington told Parliament.
"That is on top of the 10,000 people already living in Medowie, the 7600 people on the Tilligerry Peninsula, 1500 in Karuah and 1100 in Salt Ash, all communities that would use a public high school in Medowie."
The Department of Education bought land for a high school in Ferodale Road in 1983.
It recently announced plans to upgrade Hunter River and Irrawang high schools in Raymond Terrace.
"What is the government's plan for the kids of Medowie, Karuah, Salt Ash and the Tilligerry Peninsula?" Ms Washington said.
"The government's so-called upgrade is to expand both schools to squeeze more kids in.
"It is a plan designed to give it an excuse to never deliver a public high school in Medowie."
She urged the government to "come clean" on whether it still planned to build a school at Medowie and what it planned to do with the land it had bought.
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