News / Uyeasound says ‘No’ to school closure plans
PARENTS fighting the proposed closure of the 11 pupil Uyeasound Primary School have presented a 400 signatures strong petition plus 200 written responses to education officers at Shetland Islands Council on Friday.
They had hoped to meet head of service when handing in the documents to the department, but Helen Budge had been called away after word had come through that Scottish Ministers had given the council green light to close the secondary department of the Scalloway School.
As part of its Blueprint for education policy, the SIC plans to close four small primary schools at Uyeasound, Burravoe, North Roe and Sandness.
The council needs to make multi-million pound savings from its education budget, but also argues that closing small schools and transferring pupils to larger schools nearby improves children’s education.
Parents in Uyeasound feel they have a strong case against these plans, particularly since their school has just recently received a glowing inspection report making it the top primary school in the country.
Chairman of the Uyeasound parent council, Derek Jamieson: “The council accepts that they themselves say in their proposal that Uyeasound is the best inspected school in the country, but still they say that a move to Baltasound School would educationally not be detriment.”
He added: “There is an upbeat feeling in the community here. Just in the last year four young couples move moved into the community. Some of them will get married this year and start having children.
“Removing the school will also have a direct impact on the community, as it would mean the loss of six jobs locally.
There is also a dispute over how much money exactly can be saved from closing the school. Education officers say £97,000 a year could be saved, but Mr Jamieson argues that the cost for school transport between Uyeasound and Baltasound have not been part of the equation.
Head of schools, Helen Budge, said on Friday afternoon: “This is one of the issues that has come up during the consultation process. Our response to all of this will go into our consultation report that we will publish next month.
“Any question that has been raised as part of this consultation process will have to be answered in the report.”
The consultation report must be published no later than 14 April in time for the services committee to make a decision on the four school closures on 5 May. Any committee decision will have to be ratified by the full council on 18 May.
ends
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