News / Hefty response to Blueprint plans
SHETLAND’S schools service has received almost 600 responses to its proposals to close four primary schools in remote rural parts of the isles.
The 35 day consultation on closing Uyeasound, Burravoe, North Roe and Sandness primary schools ended on Sunday night after parents at Uyeasound, on Unst, handed in a 400 signature petition to education officials last Friday.
A decision on whether to close the schools could come as early as mid May.
On Wednesday Shetland Islands Council confirmed that they had received 233 responses to the Uyeasound closure proposal, 187 for North Roe, 85 for Burravoe and 71 for Sandness.
The council is hoping that their Blueprint for Education plan to close the four primaries plus a fifth at Olnafirth, in Voe, and the Scalloway secondary department will cut their £42 million education budget by £6 million.
However communities, some of who are facing their fourth battle to save their school in the past 10 years, say their future is being placed under threat by the proposals.
On Friday the Scottish government backed the council’s decision in December to close the Scalloway secondary department and transfer its 120 pupils to Lerwick’s Anderson High School in August after calling it in over doubts about the consultation process.
The council itself threw out plans to close Skerries secondary department, the smallest in Scotland, on the grounds that it would undermine the tiny island’s fragile economy. Olnafirth primary school goes to consultation next year.
The SIC schools service hope to be able to publish their report on the latest consultation to councillors in April, three weeks prior to the services committee meeting on 5 May so councillors can make a final decision on 18 May.
However the timetable is tight, with HM’s education inspectorate requiring three weeks to produce their own report on the consultation process, which would give the schools service around 10 days to put their own document together.
SIC quality improvement manager Matthew Moss said the council was very pleased with the number of responses they had received.
“It shows how important the communities believe these proposals are and the strength of feeling towards them. We have always said the more responses the better because it gives us more to respond to in our consultation report,” he said.
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