School and nursery closures

I was out of the office at meetings for much of yesterday, so it was early evening when I was finally able to read through the proposals from the Labour administration to close a number of schools and nurseries in the city. First off, I think calling it a "modernisation strategy" when it is in fact a series of closures is more than a bit disingenuous. Secondly, I'm a wee bit suspicious as to why the news was released yesterday - while the world had eyes only for Obama. It was a very late addition to the Executive Committee papers (not going first to the Education and Social Work committee) which got sent in error to all Councillors in draft form last week.

There are a couple of nurseries and a Primary school in my ward which are set to close, and I'm really not comfortable with the proposal. The head teachers and staff in these establishments do a great job, and these schools and nurseries are hugely valued by their communities. It's true there are lot of savings to be made from the closures, but there's more than the bottom line at stake. I intend to meet soon with staff from the affected establishments and will keep the blog updated.