The New South Wales government has scrapped changes to the boundaries of a public school near Queanbeyan after parents expressed outrage at the decision.
However, the NSW Education Department's about-face affects only one of two public schools in Jerrabomberra, which is a suburb adjacent to both Canberra and Queanbeyan.
The new policy means that while children in Jerrabomberra will be able attend their local primary school, only some will be allowed to enrol in the suburb's yet-to-be-built high school.
Last month, the department said students living in Jerrabomberra Heights would be able to enrol in neither the primary nor nor the high school, which is scheduled to open next year.
Jerrabomberra Heights lies in the suburb's north, closer to central Queanbeyan.
The schools' proposed new borders would have shut out all families living north of Edwin Land Parkway.
However, children who live in the new development of South Jerrabomberra will be able to enrol in both the primary and the new high school.
The area's new state MP, Nichole Overall, said today the department reversed its decision on the primary school enrolment catchment after she lobbied against it.
The high school's boundary will remain unchanged, meaning students who live in Jerrabomerra Heights will be expected to enrol in Karabar High School, in Queanbeyan, once they reach year 7.
Local MP says she was not told of boundary change 'bombshell'
Some families in Jerrabomberra, which is near but separate from Queanbeyan, say they chose to live in the area believing their children would go to local schools.
The president of the Jerrabomberra Residents' Association, Margot Sachse, said those families were shocked.
"Residents who had purchased in the Heights will have to have their kids sent to schools in Queanbeyan and not their local school."
Ms Overall, who recently replaced former Nationals MP John Barilaro in a by-election, said she was not advised of the proposed changes before they were announced.
"The moment I was made aware of them, I immediately addressed this because I knew that concern and anxiety that it was going to cause in our community," Mr Overall said.
"I was able to push it through on the primary school because it is an existing school with an existing community, and what the decision had done was essentially divide the community, so I was very much able to press the fact that that was not going to happen without consultation with the community."
Ms Overall said a public meeting would be held after Easter, with Education Department staff attending, to discuss plans for both schools.
That would include concerns about how the existing primary school could cater for a larger-than-expected number of students as the area's population grew.
Concerns remain for high school students
Kylie Prescott, who is president of the primary school's Parents & Teachers Association, welcomed the decision to scrap the primary enrolment change, but said the community was now "back at square one".
She said that, at present, 1,000 Jerrabomberra students would still be unable to attend their local high school from next year.
"Our children, our families were offered a high school and we expect all families in Jerrabomberra to be able to access that high school," she said.
"It has taken us 20 years to get this high school built. I hope it doesn't take us another 20 years to have the school extended to stage two to accommodate those 1000 students.
"This is a very family-friendly region, and we really value the opportunity for our children's friendships."
Ms Prescott urged the NSW government to ensure the new high school met the community's needs.
"It's just unacceptable and the community outrage is not going to go away until the school is built and zoned to accommodate our community."
