School closures shock

Petitions have been launched in protest at Argyll and Bute Council’s education budget review which would see the “hub of the community” disappear from the Peninsula and Luss and force youngsters with special needs to attend mainstream schools.

It is proposed that schools in Rosneath and Kilcreggan should close with pupils travelling up to eight miles to Garelochhead every day; children in Luss transferring down the A82 to Hermitage Primary on a daily basis while Parklands school would shut and be amalgamated with Hermitage Academy and John Logie Baird Primary School.

These measures, alongside the closures of 22 other schools across Argyll and Bute, is expected to save in the region of £2 million.

The proposals are a result of a comprehensive review of the council’s education budget which found that 59 per cent of the council’s primary schools are less than half full. Reducing the number of buildings would help the council reduce its overall budget by £30 million over the next three years.

However these suggestions have provoked outrage across the community with parents and councillors questioning the moves.

Children received letters home from school on Tuesday detailing the proposals.

Alan Hier who has a daughter at nursery in Kilcreggan has collected over 50 names on the petition since Wednesday. He said: “I’m concerned about the impact these closures will have on the communities as a whole. Parents won’t be passing through the village on the way to school. They will be going elsewhere. Kilcreggan could end up as a ghost town.

“One of the reasons I came back to Kilcreggan was for the quality of school and many parents are in a similar position. These children will not have the same opportunities in a school of 300 kids. The council are taking away the pillar of society.” Around 70 pupils at Kilcreggan Primary School would be affected by the closure.

Mother-of-two Joanne O’Donnell said: “I certainly don’t want to have to travel back and forth to Garelochhead very day.

“The road itself is a nightmare, it gets flooded easily. On Sunday my husband slid his car right down it because it hadn’t been gritted.” The council’s full report found that Garelochhead, Kilcreggan and Rosneath have suffered decreases in their school rolls, and the expected occupancy rates for 2011/12 would be below 50 per cent for each of the schools.

Parents were equally unhappy at Rosneath. Moira Bell, a member of the Parent Council said: “It is absolute madness. They have stopped the buses and patrol cars to the school to save money meaning that I know have to take my boy to a childminders before work, I dread to think what will happen if he now has to go to Garelochhead.

“They will take our money and council tax but don’t care about our kids wellbeing.

“They keep saying this is the best education for the children but what is wrong with Rosneath.

“I am keen to organise a meeting with councillors and villagers in Kilcreggan and Rosneath straight away, the more people who get involved the better.” And it was the proposed housing developments and library facilities at Rosneath that angered the chair of Rosneath and Clynder Community Council Robert McIntyre. “Argyll and Bute Council have just granted permission to build houses in Rosneath, how will this work if there isn’t a school in the village?

“The library is in the school - it is obvious they will do away with that as well.

“What have we to do - we are paying council tax and are more than entitled to some basic facilities. There’s going to be nothing left in Rosneath when the council are finished with it.” Councillors will be asked at a meeting of the executive committee on Tuesday to begin formal consultation with all interested groups.

Lomond South’s Councillor Danny Kelly said: “An awful lot of money has been spent on upgrading Kilcreggan in the last year - £300,000 - to bring it up to standards, and it’s a great school, equally in Rosneath as well - there doesn’t seem to be any logic.

“The other thing we have to take into account is the number of houses which have been granted permission. And with Faslane base supposed to be upping the numbers, it is short-sighted to shut schools.

“Who will want to stay in the Peninsula if there are no schools?” The school roll of 20 pupils at Luss Primary School will have to travel nine miles to Hermitage Primary School next year if these proposals go ahead as the school’s occupancy would be 47 per cent.

The provision of preschool care would continue at Arrochar Primary School.

A Save Luss Primary School group has been established to protect the school, and comments on the website stated it was “unacceptable” and would be a better idea to amalgamate two schools only three miles apart.

Anne Etchells, a former headteacher at both Luss and Rosneath primary school, said: “It’s what I would consider a monstrous idea, sending young children down the dangerous A82 every day.

“It would be a great loss to the community.” The proposals came as less of a surprise at Parklands school where it costs £79,796 for each of its seven pupils to attend the special facilities.

Joan Fraser who works as an independent advocate with West Dunbartonshire Council and is involved with Enable said: “I most certainly do not want to see the resource that is Parklands lost to the community as a learning centre and as a community asset.

“It is a disappointment not a surprise but I also really really hope that the people who have been part of making this announcement have not just been looking at the viability but are looking at the bigger picture for the children’s future as well.

“The school roll has fallen over the years at Parklands and I know that we have to be realistic but I hope that the baby has not been thrown out of the bath water.” Commenting on Parklands School, Councillor Vivien Dance urged people to get ready for the consultation period.

She said: “There are many parts of the report which I disagree with.

“I would encourage everyone who has an interest in any of the schools involved to get up to speed with the report.

“The number of pupils at Parklands is decreasing and so I think we were expecting the axe to fall on it, but at the same time parents of children who are not yet at the school or would be looking to use the facilities should make their feelings known.

“To be clear this is a consultation and no plans are final.” Councillor James Robb added: “It is not acceptable that with the closure of Parklands School we will be the only area without a facility for pupils whose needs cannot be met in main stream education.

“I will be seeking the assistance of all Helensburgh and Lomond councillors to retain this facility.” At a meeting on Tuesday, Argyll and Bute Council’s executive director for community services, Clelland Sneddon explained the criteria to measure school estates was based on occupancy levels, cost per pupil, sufficiency of provision, building condition and energy use per pupil as of 2010/2011.

He added: “In reference to future housing developments in each of the proposal documents we have taken the ideas from the planning department looking at local planning commitments that will take place. We have taken these points into account.

“None of the proposals are a reflection of how schools perform.” “The council has a clear vision for its education service, and strives to improve the quality of education for all in Argyll and Bute. At the same time we face challenging financial times. Education accounts for more than one third of the council’s total budget.

”If we don’t make savings in our education service we will have to make bigger savings from other services.

“There is a real risk that we won’t achieve our vision unless we make significant changes.” The public consultation period will commence on November 15 until January 14 2011.