Another four city schools to close

EDUCATION chiefs today revealed the latest Edinburgh primaries to face the axe, with four more schools set to close by next summer.

Burdiehouse, Fort, Royston and Drumbrae primaries have all been earmarked in a bid to save more than £1 million a year in staffing and running costs and bring in a further £2.4m in land sales.

Council bosses say there are 8,600 empty places in the city's primary schools, but the move to close schools will undoubtedly spark protest campaigns.

News of the fresh closures come almost a year to the day since the council announced plans to close Westburn, Bonnington and Lismore primaries. Bonnington and Lismore closed at Christmas, while Westburn will shut before the summer holidays.

Both Burdiehouse and Drumbrae – which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year – were on the council's original hit-list which was unveiled in August 2007, so it may come as no surprise to parents that they have been earmarked for closure once again.

While Fort Primary in Leith did not appear on the original list, its inclusion may too have been expected as it has since been decided that the nearby Fort House estate is to be bulldozed.

Although Royston was not on the original hit-list, it suffers from poor results in reading, writing and maths, as well as a falling school roll.

City education leader Marilyne MacLaren defended the move and said closing the schools would provide better "value for money".

She told the Evening News: "We want to continue to offer Edinburgh's young people an education that is among the best available.

"To do this we must be sure that our schools are well equipped, well staffed, full of pupils and that they offer the best value for money.

"The money that the government gives us for education is linked directly to the number of pupils in the city – this means that it costs us much more to run schools that aren't full.

"We also know that full schools mean better access to the curriculum.

That's why we must continue to review our school estate and ensure that schools are as good as they can be.

"We know that government spending is tightening up, so it is vital that we get the most out of the money we invest."

This latest round of closures will not be the last as education bosses fight to reduce the number of spare places and save money from schools with low capacity.

Amongst those expected on any future hit-list will be a secondary school, as council chiefs want to close one by 2011 to save an estimated £1m.

The occupancy levels at all four under-threat primary schools range between 33 per cent and 41 per cent, while the cost per pupil is significantly higher at these schools than the Edinburgh average of £3,699. If all four primaries were to close, it would remove 1,270 excess school places, going some way to filling the 8,600 empty places.

Since 1997, the school roll in Edinburgh has fallen by nearly 6,000 pupils, equating to a 19 per cent drop. The number of schools in the city has fallen from 103 to 91 over the past decade after three major reviews.

In August 2007, the city council announced its controversial proposals to close 13 primaries, three secondaries and six nurseries.

The plans were scrapped because of massive protests, but education bosses were forced to look again at the school rationalisation process almost immediately due to capacity issues in some schools and the need to save money.

This time round, city chiefs have announced the closures piecemeal in order to prevent a repeat of 2007, but the news is still expected to receive strong opposition.


PARENTS WILL GET THEIR SAY

PARENTS will have the chance to comment on the proposals when the consultation process starts in August.

Council chiefs are proposing that pupils from Burdiehouse would be given places at Gracemount or Gilmerton schools if it were to close. Pupils from Fort would go to Trinity, while pupils from Royston would go to either Granton or Forthview. Children from Drumbrae would go to Clermiston or East Craigs.

The council says it will reinvest the money made from the sale of the sites back into the school estate.

The proposals will recommend that Burdiehouse, Royston and Drumbrae are sold off, but that the Fort is retained.


Your Say: Do you think the council is right to close schools to save money?

Alexander Alexander, 81, retired, Calder Gardens: "As long as they make sure there's alternatives and if it's solving monetary problems I don't have a problem with it."

Sandra Aitken, 44, playworker, Pirniefield Bank: "If schools are not working to their full capacity it's a necessity to close them in this day and age."

Christopher Fentiman, 73, retired, Polwarth Gardens: "They should stop wasting money on other projects. There are better ways to save money."