Overcrowding at Indooroopilly State High School is out of control because the State Government continues to underfund our public schools.
The government’s failure to plan properly has meant ISHS students have lost their science labs, student support rooms and play areas. And if it wasn’t for the P&C’s hard work and my advocacy, students would have lost their library too.
After years of campaigning, the local community has finally pushed the State Government into developing a masterplan for new buildings at ISHS. But so far there's been no commitment from Labor or the LNP to fund this masterplan and make it a reality. We need the Labor and Liberal parties to stop playing politics with our school and commit to fully funding the ISHS upgrades now!
Use this page to sign the petition asking for the Education Minister and Shadow Education Minister to commit to funding new buildings at ISHS if elected. Please also share this page with your friends and neighbours to turn up the pressure!
Background
We’ve achieved some incredible wins in our advocacy against school overcrowding. We got a commitment to a new primary school, a big new administration and classroom building for Indooroopilly SS, land acquired next to Ironside SS and more. But it’s clear that high school overcrowding is an ongoing issue in the inner-west, and it’s time for the government to step up.
In December 2023 this came to a head when we learnt that ISHS students could lose their library, instrumental music rooms, storage sheds and more to accommodate 2024 enrollments. After pushback from our community and the Greens, the Education Minister agreed to our call to urgently step in and provide temporary classrooms. Just over a week later, demountables were being installed on the ISHS oval - an important but temporary win.
But demountables aren’t the solution. We’ve needed new buildings at ISHS for years and I’ve long told the Minister that unless the government stepped up, this is what was going to happen. It's been disappointing to see Labor barely playing catch-up, despite the Department's own enrolment figures clearly predicting this population increase.
After years of advocacy by me and our ISHS community, the state government is finally working on a masterplan for ISHS, and so far it looks promising. But in June 2024, we learned the Government still hasn’t allocated any funding for new buildings - despite the Department saying they’d at least seek design funding this year.
The State Government has effectively made funding our school an election issue, by kicking the can down the road instead of funding it in the 2024/25 Budget. But we don’t need the major parties playing politics with our school - overcrowding is such a huge issue right now that we can’t wait for years and years to get these new buildings.
We need funding locked in before the State election in October 2024, so new buildings can be constructed as soon as possible. That’s why I’m calling on both major parties to commit to funding all four stages of the new Master Plan now - can you join me?