DOUBLE BLOW FOR SCHOOLS

No reprieve for Ysgol Beaumaris or Ysgol Talwrn:

COUNCILLORS have voted against giving a small town school a reprieve.

Last month the council’s executive agreed to shut Ysgol Beaumaris and refurbish Ysgol Llangoed as well as Ysgol Llandegfan.

Ysgol Beaumaris only has 40 pupils, with 72% of the available school places being empty, but the decision was called in for review at the corporate scrutiny committee meeting on Monday.

Campaigners have argued that leaving the town without a school for the first time in over 400 years would have a disastrous effect on the town’s age profile with fears families would have their children educated off of the island.

Members of the committee were asked to look at how the decision was made and to decide if it would need to be looked at again by the cabinet.

Concerns were raised in the recall about the impact the closure would have on the town, what would be done with the school building and whether pupils from the town would go to the other area schools.

The committee was asked to look at whether the executive had given these issues proper consideration.

Bro Aberffraw Cllr Peter Rogers spoke in favour of bringing the closure back before the executive. He said: “What concerns me is the feeling that Beaumaris people seem not to be very concerned about this, but they have campaigned against this and been to the MP, so it is an emotive issue. We have been talking about rationalising schools for a long time but this move is just a fudge.”

Caergybi Cllr Glyn Haynes said: “I think the school should be saved but this recall is not going to do that.”

His fellow Holyhead county councillor, Robert Llewelyn Jones said: “I think this is the wrong decision and I cannot understand why it has been made. I do not think keeping the school in Beaumaris would cost as much as refurbishing the other schools.”

Officers said the issues raised had been looked at in detail in the past. This included consultation on the future of the school and when the council looked at building another school in the town there was no suitable land available.

They added that there was no evidence that children who go to Ysgol Beaumaris would be sent to schools outside of the area.

Members of the committee voted unanimously against sending the decision back to the executive.

Ysgol Talwrn hopes also dashed – page 25 ●