Planning and design work for a new public secondary college in Gungahlin will be funded in the upcoming ACT budget, which will also include the money needed to build a planned high school at Taylor.
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It marks a continued concentration of education infrastructure in Canberra's north, which is home to the fastest growing population of school-aged children.
The high school in Taylor is due to open in 2024 and its $2 million design work was previously funded in February 2021.
The government said the school would cater for 800 students.
The school would include specialist and general learning areas along with a library and interactive learning centre, the government said. A combined hall and gymnasium and performing arts spaces, as well as hard courts, would be used by the school and available to the community.
The ongoing investment in Gungahlin public schools comes after the government began work on an expansion to Margaret Hendry School just four years after it opened.
That school - which the government has been forced to defend in the face of criticism over its alternative campus and teaching methods - will be expanded to take an extra 600 students by the start of the 2023 school year.
The government had previously earmarked $118 million for the Margaret Hendry expansion and the new high school next door in contracts awarded to Hindmarsh Construction.
The current year 6 students at Margaret Hendry School will need to attend Amaroo or Gold Creek Schools for high school next year as the new Taylor school will not be ready in time. The new Kenny high school in east Gungahlin was set to open next year but was delayed due to rain.
Education Minister Yvette Berry said the government was working to ensure every parent in the capital could send their children to high-quality public schools.
"I'm also pleased to confirm that we are starting the master planning and preliminary design works on a second college for Gungahlin," Ms Berry said.
"I know this is an issue that is of interest to residents in Gungahlin and the first steps towards the delivery of a second college for Gungahlin are now underway."
The government funded a $600,000 feasibility study into a new year 11 and 12 college for Gungahlin before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gungahlin College, which opened in the town centre more than a decade ago, is the largest by student population.
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Chief Minister Andrew Barr, who will present the ACT budget on August 2, said the government was undertaking the most ambitious school infrastructure investment program since self-government in 1989.
"We are building new and expanded schools in growing communities, and renewing the schools that Canberrans know and love right across the city," Mr Barr said in a statement.
"Now is the time to invest in our city, in infrastructure that is built for Canberra, to ensure that Canberra continues to be one of the most liveable cities in the world."
Four out of the five largest primary schools in the territory were in Gungahlin, data released by the Education Directorate last year showed.
Meanwhile, ACT public schools need to urgently address problems with campus maintenance, capacity, digital infrastructure and accessibility, an inquiry found in May.
A Legislative Assembly committee heard of schools with black mould, flaking paint, leaking roofs, toilets in poor condition and areas inaccessible for people with disabilities. Ms Berry said at the time the government would respond in due course.
"Every child has a place in their local public school and we pay very careful attention in consultation with our school communities to make sure that those needs are met," she said.
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Jasper Lindell
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
