BY NOREEN NAVIN
SYDNEY — Teachers and parents in Dulwich Hill, in Sydney's inner west, are rallying to defend their local high school, appealing for statewide industrial action if the NSW government decides to close the school.
The two-month consultation period expires on September 28, at which point the state Labor government will announce the school's fate.
Teachers, parents and supporters have been gathering signatures on a petition and letters of support from the local community. Already, 1400 submissions have been lodged with the education department detailing why the school should remain open.
Marion McKinnon, a teacher at the school, told the Canterbury-Bankstown branch of the NSW Teachers' Federation on August 8 that the mooted sale of the site is little more than a land grab and that no school in the state, especially one located on commercially viable real estate, should feel exempt from the Labor government's economic rationalist policies.
The Dulwich Hill community also rejects a second proposal, to merge the school with Marrickville High School and retain the Dulwich Hill site. Both communities want to keep their own local schools operational.
The government claims that Dulwich Hill High is too small, having only 500 students, but nearby private school Kasimir College has 300 students and faces no threat to its government funding.