Parents are fuming about the newly-announced catchment for a 14-storey inner-city high school being built, saying it's a "kick in the guts" that their children won't be able to attend a school across the road from their homes.

Some are also questioning why the catchment includes the "good" part of Redfern, but not the parts with a high concentration of public housing.

Demand is expected to be strong for the new Inner Sydney High School on Cleveland Street when it opens to year seven in 2020. Building has begun and a foundation principal, Robyn Matthews, has been appointed.

But the hopes of many parents in Redfern and Darlington that their children would be able to attend have been dashed by the announcement of the catchment late last week, which does not include suburbs to the school's south.