Bid to change status refused (From Free Press Series)

Bid to change status refused

GOVERNORS at an Abergavenny infant school, which is due to close next year, have lost their bid to change its status.

Park Street Infants School governors wanted to change the school to a voluntary-aided church school, and had the backing of the diocese of Monmouth, as well as a petition from the community signed by more than 1,000 people, plus 98 individual letters of support.

But Assembly education minister Jane Davidson has turned down their bid, saying she cannot see any useful purpose which could be served by a change of category only one year before the school closes.

Norma Watkins, chairman of Park Street governors said: "The parents and governors are extremely disappointed and there is a lot of anger in the community about this."

Ms Davidson said aspects of the consultation were potentially misleading in that they seemed to suggest that a change of category might halt the closure.

Mrs Watkins replied: "We never misled anybody, and we applied for a permanent church school."

She said the governors had met their legal team and church representatives last week and they were planning a further meeting to discuss this latest blow. The governors have said in the past they would consider asking for a judicial review, but Mrs Watkins declined to comment on this until after their next meeting.

Ms Davidson criticised the consultation document submitted by Park Street governors and said it gave a false impression that the closure of the school would not go ahead if the change of category was approved.

She also felt the wording of the petition was potentially misleading in that it implied that the proposal would bring about a change in the religious character of the school.

Park Street Infants School is one of several Abergavenny schools which is to close following the biggest education shake-up of primary education ever seen in Monmouthshire.

Although it is scheduled to close in September 2005 it will still continue as an infants school for a year while remodelling work is carried out to transform Harold Road Junior School into a 210-place primary school.

The junior pupils will move to the St David's Junior School site while the work goes on, and the remodelled school will open in September 2006.