Primary school amalgamation proposals go to formal....

[Kintyre Forum News]

Primary school amalgamation proposals go to formal consultation

Argyll and Bute councillors have voted to consult formally on eleven primary school amalgamation proposals.

The council has 80 primary schools, with the capacity for around 11,500 pupils. Currently there are approximately 5,500 vacant places and predictions show the number of vacancies is expected to increase.

School rolls have reduced to unsustainable levels in a number of areas and the council’s proposals focus on the educational benefit for pupils at those schools.

At the same time some school buildings need huge investment to bring them up to an appropriate standard.

The cost of educating pupils in Argyll and Bute ranges from £3,000 per pupil per year to almost £30,000 per pupil per year.

The following proposals are now subject to a period of statutory consultation:

· St Kieran’s Primary School to Castlehill Primary School
· Ardchonnel Primary School to Dalmally / Kilmartin Primary Schools
· Toward Primary School to Inellan Primary School
· Skipness Primary School to Tarbert Academy
· Clachan Primary School to Tarbert Academy
· Rhunahaorine Primary School to Glenbarr Primary School
· Minard Primary School to Furnace Primary School
· North Bute Primary School to Rothesay Joint Campus
· Luss Primary School to Hermitage Primary School
· Achaleven Primary School to Dunbeg Primary School
Ardchatten Primary School to Lochnell Primary School

The council agreed not to take forward to formal consultation the proposals to merge Ashfield Primary School with either Tayvallich Primary School or Lochgilphead Joint Campus.

Councillors rejected a proposal to amalgamate Minard Primary School with Lochgilphead Joint Campus, preferring the alternative option to amalgamate Minard Primary School with Furnace Primary School.

And councillors also rejected a proposal to amalgamate Achaleven Primary School with Lochnell Primary School, preferring the alternative option to amalgamate Achaleven Primary School with Dunbeg Primary School.

Councillor Ellen Morton, spokesperson for education and lifelong learning said:

“Argyll and Bute Council is committed to providing a quality education for all of its school children. If we are going to provide an equitable and sustainable education for all then we have to make sure our resources are used to the best effect.

“Running schools which are half full or less and where predictions show the roll is likely to decrease is not a sustainable position. These are not easy decisions to make and I understand that those communities which are directly affected are not in favour of the proposals but we have to take a long term view and consider education in the whole of Argyll and Bute.

“If agreed, these proposals will have a direct impact on 137 pupils, in the schools that may close. We have around 5800 primary school children and we must consider how to deliver the best education for all of them.

“We have already held pre-consultation meetings with communities and have included their comments in our proposals. Everyone now has a further opportunity to have their say as part of the formal consultation process before further decisions are made by council in October.”

The outline timetable for the statutory consultation is:



The table below shows the potential savings and the current school roll of the schools proposed for amalgamation



*No saving is shown for St Kierans or Ardchonnel as the budget is non operational at present

**The North Bute PS proposal to Rothesay JC shows a net cost of £34,252. The council received a competitive tender for essential property works around £450,000. This sum sits within a wider estimate by the council’s facility service of required works to bring the property up to a grade A standard of £807, 477.

A 20 year loan of £450,000 from the Public Works Loan Board would cost the council around £35,000 on an annuity basis (using the loan calculator, it is estimated at £64,794 per annum for a loan of £807,000) to factor in repayment as well as interest costs. The North Bute proposal would therefore provide a net saving to the council of around £30,542 per annum over 20 years if the proposal was implemented.

Following a meeting arranged with Cllr Scoullar and the council’s facility services, the Parent Council have very recently submitted some details on an alternative specification of works. This submission will be discussed at a meeting this month and its viability will thereafter be formally assessed by facility services as with all alternatives that are suggested through community consultation.

*** The Skipness and Clachan amalgamations with Tarbert would generate a saving of £118,980 if both were progressed together (ie the saving would be greater than the sum of the two individually)

**** Projected roll figures and placing request figures as at March 2011 – these may be subject to variation.

[Kintyre Forum News]

Wee video on You Tube to show support for Clachan Primary School!

[argylltourist]

Only in A&BC,could 1=1=5!!!...with regard to what the council say will be saved by closing Skipness and Clachan.Perhaps councilors should be sent to their local rural school to teach them "sums".

[Kintyre Lad]

Why does the closure of the likes of St Keirans and Skipness have to go to formal consultation? How much money is that wasting???

So the original proposal by the SNP led Council was to close Glenbarr and Rhunahaorine to merge with Clachan then they threw the dummy out of the pram when the realised the public uproar with regards the school closures and left the administration by suggesting it wasn't there idea! Now a new Council led group decide to close Clachan! As Argyll Tourist says - only in Argyll!! The whole episode is a joke!

[D.H]

second time lucky after the power cut.

There are some great photos from the protest yesterday http://forargyll.com/2011/04/school-closure-council-the-canker-in-joyful-argyll/ at Kilmory.

It seems a shame that the parents and communities of the viable and vital schools have to go through this, especially as the process has had more dodgy dossiers and emails than No 10, and so it is likely to be refused at Scot Govt level. What a waste of money and time, and a breach of trust by the Councillors who voted for this.

I hope that all communities will support the viable schools (I don't think anyone sees St Keirans or Skipness as viable) as by the logic of the Council it could be any school next!

[Kintyre Forum News]

Received this e-mail from Donald MacDonald (Councillor for Oban North and Lorn) in response to the news release issed by the Council (as posted above)

Hi Folks,

Please see the note I have sent to Argyll & Bute Council`s Communications Manager for your information as the original News Release may have inadvertently given the false impression that these decisions on School Closure Consultation were all taken unanimously. This was far from the case and I merely want to ensure that those voices raised in protest against the decisions made by the Councillors in the current ruling Administration are heard.

Slainte
Councillor Donald Macdonald

Dear Jo,

Just to raise a few concerns about the terminology you have used in this News Release. Many Councillors did not vote for these Closure Consultations and I would be grateful if you could amend the News Release accordingly. This could be by inserting ‘by a majority’ after ‘voted’ in the first line and by similar alterations where the term ‘councillors’ is used after the listing of proposals – where sentences around the Minard and Achaleven Closure proposals are detailed. In addition as a Councillor I did not prefer either of the options mentioned and voted against them along with many other Councillors. The wording here also requires to be adjusted and I would be grateful if you could correct as appropriate.

I would not wish anyone reading this News Release to be given a false impression that I – along with many of my fellow Councillors - had supported these Closure Consultation proposals. Many of us are opposed to this action on the part of the Council Administration and it is only right and proper that people in our fragile rural communities are aware that they do have support from many Councillors in Argyll & Bute. This note has been copied to my colleagues in the Opposition as I am sure many of them will share my concerns on these matters.

Slainte, Donald

[D.H]

This official consultation period has now started for the controversial proposed closure and amalgamation of identified primary schools. Once this legal period is over the HMIE puts in its reports and then the Council officials put together reports on the proposals for the Councillors to vote on. The main reason for closing / amalgamating a school must be on educational improvement grounds - not finance. Should the Council decide to close / amalgamate these schools the communities have a period that they can challenge the decision with the Minister for Education.

From correspondence http://forargyll.com/2011/04/directors-of-education-and-senior-civil-servants-conspire-to-subvert-the-2010-schools-act/ it is clear that Council Officers thought that the right for the Minister of Education to refuse to accept the school closures because they were unsound was unlikely to ever be used which is maybe why they thought to fill up the proposals with mince rather than facts. They will be worried now though as the Minister has used the powers to send inappropriate school closures back to Councils already. Given the wad of evidence against the process being honest and the inappropriate data used by the Council officials it is certain that these proposals can never be considered sound or honest. Such a waste of tax payers money and family time.

You can read the proposals on all the schools out to consultation and give online feedback by following this link https://www.education.ea.argyll-bute.sch.uk/schoolconsultations/proposals.asp and selecting the schools that you are interested in. This brings up a new page where you can read the individual proposal, the minutes of the pre-consultation meeting, and you can email or fill out the online form to add your view.

For Kintyre you can find:
Clachan Primary School and Tarbert Academy
Rhunahaorine and Glenbarr Primary Schools
Skipness Primary School and Tarbert Academy (Primary)
St Kieran's and Castlehill Primary Schools

You don't have to be a parent to put your views across or live in the community the proposals directly affect. You have until the 30th June.

[Kintyre Forum News]

Received this quote from a parent tonight. Hopefully more parents and supporters will post on here too.

"The thing that makes me mad is that Clachan School has the best HMI inspection in Argyll and Bute, and TWO Green flags. It has a windmill on its roof, solar panels that the kids built and installed themselves, the school grows its own vegetables and regularly does "Forest schools", which involves the kids going up to the woods and developing an appreciation of nature, helping to maintain the Kintyre way, etc. They will not recieve the same education if they go to Tarbert School, which is what the council want. "

[WeeTownWeeYin]

I'm aware that not alll councillors supported this. Can you please publish a list of which councillors did/did not?

[John S]

Why does the closure of the likes of St Keirans and Skipness have to go to formal consultation? How much money is that wasting???

So the original proposal by the SNP led Council was to close Glenbarr and Rhunahaorine to merge with Clachan then they threw the dummy out of the pram when the realised the public uproar with regards the school closures and left the administration by suggesting it wasn't there idea! Now a new Council led group decide to close Clachan! As Argyll Tourist says - only in Argyll!! The whole episode is a joke!

Hi Kintyre Lad,

The consultation process is a legal requirement and I doubt, given that Skipness and St Keirans schools are all-but-empty, that there will be anything much in terms of cost involved in the consultation.

For your information the SNP never led the council, we left the ruling coalition led by the larger partners - the alliance of independent Councillors and we left that coalition because our larger partners could not be persuaded that the process presented was flawed.

The Liberals then decided to form a new coalition with the Alliance of Independent Councillors and voted them to progress the consultations for closure.

[DOUBLE A]

Things may be put on hold for a while

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-13614592

[Swanseajock]

Well I can't remember the last time I was in Skipness, but I seem to remember that it was a long way from Carradale. So how can they possibly consider sending children all the way to tarbert to go to school. How long a day would that be

[D.H]

The Council's view on Mike Russell's call to halt the rural schools' closure http://www.argyll-bute.gov.uk/news/2011/jun/council-leaders-response-education-secretarys-proposal

Council Leader's response to Education Secretary's proposal
Published Date:
1 Jun 2011 - 12:16

Argyll and Bute Council leader Dick Walsh has issued a response to Education Secretary Mike Russell’s call this morning for a year-long moratorium on the closure of rural schools.

Councillor Walsh said: “We have only just received this information, which we are currently assessing and considering.

“On the basis of the limited details we have at present, one obvious question regards finance. If this is a Scottish Government policy, then the Cabinet Secretary needs to give Scotland’s local authorities clarity regarding whether there’s likely to be any additional funding which will enable councils to protect their education budgets.

“Argyll and Bute Council is currently facing unprecedented financial challenges which are impacting on every service area.

“At the same time, the diminishing economic activity in some of our rural communities is affecting the number of families living there, which has obvious implications for school rolls.

“The result is that Argyll and Bute currently has a primary school capacity of some 11,500 pupils, but a primary roll of only around 6,000 pupils. This is an unsustainable situation, and one which predictions suggest will get worse in the future if no action is taken.

“It would be irresponsible of the council to fail to address this level of under occupancy and its impact on all the area’s pupils. Indeed, this is something which the authority’s external auditors have highlighted as an area for action.

“We are committed to providing an equitable and sustainable high quality education for all of our pupils, and have a duty to ensure that our resources are targeted towards achieving this in the most effective way.

“If the Scottish Government intends to prevent local authorities from considering their school estate, then it needs to provide additional funding to meet the resulting budget shortfall. Otherwise, this restriction will see less money for all schools as well as other services.

“We look forward to receiving further details from the Cabinet Secretary regarding his proposal, in order that we can properly assess its implications.”

ENDS

[argylltourist]

Dick Walsh....same old,same old.

I just wish that the admin. councillors would stop talking 'mince',and focus on improving education.They've been shown countless times that cost is no longer an issue,but it's not getting through.

I can feel those council elections now getting closer!!!!!!

[Kintyre Forum News]

Pro-school campaign plans next steps

The Argyll Rural Schools Network (ARSN) met with representatives of Argyll & Bute Council’s three opposition groups in Inveraray on Sunday (5th June) to discuss the next steps in their campaign to protect the rural schools and communities of Argyll and Bute.

Concerns were expressed regarding the Council’s slow response to Education Secretary Michael Russell’s request to halt the school closure process to enable the formation of a Commission to review the delivery of rural education. ARSN, MSPs from all of the major parties and councillors opposed to the school closure have all welcomed Mr Russell’s intervention and it is disappointing that the Council have not yet agreed to the moratorium.

The potential for collaboration between ARSN and opposition groups for the 2012 Council elections was also discussed. ARSN aims to identify and support pro-school candidates standing for each of the thirty-six Council seats and will work with the opposition groups to determine where ARSN’s resources will be best deployed. An ARSN spokesperson stated, “We want communities to have a clear choice at the 2012 elections so that they can elect a Council that will never again threaten Argyll’s rural communities with forced closures of rural schools.”

Councillor George Freeman, Leader of the Argyll & Bute Independent Councillors Group stated: "I welcomed the opportunity to attend this ARSN meeting which was very constructive and now look forward to working closely with them in identifying candidates in the run up to the 2012 local authority elections".

Councillor Anne Horn, representing the SNP Group, said, “The meeting with ARSN was very positive and I would urge the Council Administration to drop their school closure proposals in light of the proposal by the Cabinet Secretary to establish a Commission on Delivery of Rural Education. I will continue to work with ARSN to support local schools in our rural communities.”

A separate meeting of the Council’s ruling coalition was later reported to have agreed to continue with the consultation, despite concerns raised by several of their councillors. The ARSN spokesperson said, “It beggars belief that Argyll and Bute Council are going to continue wasting money on this process. The only sensible decision is to end the consultations immediately and work with the Commission to build a better future for rural schools and communities.”

---END---
6 June 2011


NOTES FOR EDITORS

ARSN is a network open to all schools in Argyll and Bute. The Network originally formed as a response to Argyll and Bute Council’s 2010 proposals to close 26 primary schools (one third of all primary schools in the area). The Network successfully campaigned to persuade Argyll and Bute Council to abandon the original proposals.

ARSN provides a forum for schools to support each other. The current focus is to fight closure proposals, but the Network also wants to support the long term sustainability of rural communities. ARSN believes that communities are only truly sustainable if there is easy access to primary education so that families can feel confident when they choose to move to rural villages and settlements.



FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

E-mail: arsnmedia@gmail.com

Or phone:

Douglas McKenzie – 01631 720632

Brian Barker – 07708 461081 / 01546 886273