Dumfriesshire MP David Mundell has publicly called on Education Director Colin Grant to listen to the concerns of parents and local councillors and remove Elmvale Primary from the cluster school proposals.
Mr Mundell’s intervention follows continued strong opposition from the community.
Parents from the School and the chair of its Parent Council remain opposed to the plans and have been in regular contact with the local MP for some weeks.
At a meeting of Annandale and Eskdale Area Committee, at the Council Chambers in Annan Town Hall, today (Wednesday 15th May) local councillors from across the party political spectrum spoke out against the idea and questioned the merits of Elmvale being included in the cluster school proposals, which would see smaller schools share a single Head Teacher.
There is a feeling amongst parents and local representatives that Elmvale is materially different from the other rural schools which are being considered as part of the plans and therefore it should not be grouped as part of a cluster.
The Education Department’s own figures, which were revealed in an email to parents, also show that they expect the school role at Elmvale to increase over the next few years bringing it very close to, if not exceeding the quota of 150 pupils, around which the proposals centre.
Mr Mundell believes that this combined with the fact it is not a rural school should mean that it is removed from the plans at this time. Mr Mundell also understands that there is to be a wider review of primary school provision in Annan over the next couple of years and believes that it would make sense to leave any decision about Elmvale until a strategic review has taken place.
Mr Mundell also agrees with the comments made by councillors about the way the consultation process has operated and feels it would have been better to take views and comments from parents before announcing the plans. However, the local MP does feel that the Department have worked to engage with parents and Elmvale and local councillors and now hopes that they will take this opportunity to revise the proposals before the plans go before a meeting of the full council later in the month.
Commenting Mr Mundell said: “I understand that a number of parents across Dumfries and Galloway have reservations about the cluster school plans, but the argument at Elmvale is completely different. No matter what your views are on the perceived benefits of rural schools sharing a head teacher, the argument for including Elmvale is completely different and to be quite honest don’t stack up – for a start it is not a rural school.”
“The message coming from the Parent Council and a number of individual parents is that their school is materially different from all of the other schools in the area which it could be paired with. Not only is it much larger creating an imbalance but it also has a growing school role.
“It is also my understanding that the Council are also looking to review the primary school provision in Annan over the next couple of years and from a common sense point of view it seems a good idea to leave all the options on the table.”
“I have added my voice to the calls as the longer these plans have been on the table the clearer it has become that Elmvale is just out of place as part of the plans. Even after the revisions parents and local councillors from across the different political groupings on the Council have very clearly expressed their concerns and strong opposition to the plans.
“It is essential that parents feel they are being listened to and the concerns being raised in this case stretch beyond simply not liking the plans. Parents and local representatives have voice substantial arguments about the lack of educational integrity and merit behind including Elmvale. I am hopeful now that after conducting a listening exercise that the Department for Education will take those views on board, and that they will remove the school from the proposals before Councillors have to make the final decision.”