Parents meet to air fears of the impact of school closures Brisbane State High School will expand to Balmoral State and Coorparoo State. Picture: Adam Armstrong. PARENTS fear Brisbane State High School will lose its elite standard after a proposed takeover of a nearby college were aired at a meeting on Monday night. Everton Park State High School community last night voiced their concerns and raised questions about proposed school closures, at a meeting attended by State Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek. The State Government plans to close Coorparoo Secondary College (CSC) so it can become a campus of Brisbane State High School (BSHS). It also plans to close eight others - Nyanda and Everton Park state high schools and Fortitude Valley, Old Yarranlea, Stuart, Charlton, Wyreema and Toowoomba South state schools. The meeting at BSHS became heated on several occasions. I am completely outraged by this entire proposal. I just cannot understand how you are not completely outraged," one woman told a packed BSHS auditorium, with some in the audience yelling back, "we are" and "that's why we're here!" Parents questioned whether BSHS would keep its commitment to accepting merit students, which some cited as a reason for the school excelling. Others maintained local pupils should come first. Year 7 moving into high school was a key concern, with the audience told the school would have to stop accepting merit students within five to seven years if it did not find a solution to cope with growing demand. A few asked whether there was "a back-up plan" if the CSC proposal fell over. Local member Jackie Trad asked if Mr Langbroek would give "an ironclad guarantee" he would not close both schools if the communities were against it. Some in the audience, which included past and current students, parents, staff and locals, said they were for the proposal, but most who asked questions were against it or raised concerns about it. Yesterday, Mr Langbroek said planning had been undertaken to ensure both BSHS and CSC had the capacity for Year 7 in 2015 if the amalgamation did not happen, and no, he would not give the guarantee Ms Trad asked for. He said the consultation process was about hearing compelling arguments not considered in the initial analysis. "Issues of enrolment management and catchment areas raised during the consultation process will be considered in the final determination," Mr Langbroek said.