Plans passed for packed primary

NEW plans to ease overcrowding at a primary school have been given the green light by councillors.

As reported in the Evening Times earlier this week, a scheme to turn an underground car park into a dance studio at Hillhead Primary School was dropped.

Instead, education bosses suggested a raft of other plans to convert outdoor areas into teaching space.

Yesterday this new scheme was passed by a meeting of Glasgow City Council’s executive committee.

Talks have been held between the education department and parents for the past 18 months in a bid to fix the problem of cramped conditions at the primary.

Already the council has redrawn the catchment area for the school and capped the intake of primary ones to 75.

Other suggestions were debated, such as moving the P7 class to Hillhead High School, but these were dropped.

Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, has raised the issue with the Scottish Government’s education minister and said the council must think of longer term plans. She said: “The whole thing is an absolute mess.

“This is a disgraceful situation where children who live next door to one another are being sent to different schools and it is impacting the whole North Kelvin area, not just Hillhead Primary.

“Glasgow City Council needs to revisit its long term strategy for these schools and admit they have made a mess of it.

“Parents did not want the closure of the three other schools and they were right but it’s too late.”