Ms Usher is one of more than 5500 parents who have signed a petition calling for a new public high school to be built in Sydney's eastern suburbs. The school has also gained the support of Waverley, Woollahra and Randwick councils. However, a spokesman for the NSW Department of Education said that the existing high schools in the area currently "have capacity to accommodate more than an additional 1500 students" and that ongoing capital works projects will also create more places. "There is currently sufficient capacity in schools in the eastern suburbs of Sydney to accommodate projected student enrolments in the area until 2031," the spokesman said. Waverley is one of the highest growth areas for secondary school enrolments in Sydney, with enrolments growing 13 times faster than the average for greater Sydney between 2016 and 2017, a Herald analysis revealed last year. Of the government schools in Sydney's east, Rose Bay has already exceeded the department's high school enrolment capacity of 1190 students, with 1263 pupils currently enrolled at the partially-selective school in Dover Heights.

Randwick Girls High is also approaching capacity, with 961 enrolments this year, while Randwick Boys High currently has 603 pupils. The department spokesman said J.J. Cahill Memorial High, which is in Mascot and has 323 students, also services the eastern suburbs - something disputed by parents who say the Mascot school is too far away. Local primary schools Bondi Public School and Bondi Beach Public School are also at or near the government's primary school capacity of 640 students, with 590 pupils currently enrolled at Bondi and 655 students at Bondi Beach. Principal of real estate agency Laing and Simmons in Bondi, Danny Doff, said buying a block of land in the eastern suburbs large enough for a high school would cost the government about $20 million, but that the state government already owns a number of sites that could be used, including the Waverley bus depot and Waverley court house and police station sites. The mayor of Waverley Council John Wakefield said the council rejects the Department of Education's projections for student growth in the area and is gathering its own enrolment data.

"Do we need kids falling out the doors of these schools to know there's an issue?" Cr Wakefield said. "We can help them with identifying sites and zoning but they're clearly avoiding the problem." Waverley Council has passed a motion supporting a new school and is working to identify potential sites for a new school with the other local councils. Licia Heath, eastern campaign manager for the Community for Local Options for Secondary Education (CLOSE), which is leading the push for a new school in Bondi, also said the government's projections do not reflect actual enrolment trends. "With growing primary school enrolments and new dwelling rates in the east, we're saying the department's forecasts are out because they're not overlaying trends that are happening with people moving into public education," Ms Heath said.