Crunch day for schools on council 'hit list'

The three high schools have been selected because of a combination of exam results, parental choice and the condition of the buildings.

Town hall leaders will officially vote on the plans on Tuesday and, if approved by the Schools Organisation Committee (SOC), will be implemented in autumn 2007.

Under the proposals, Prestwich will shut completely, while nearby Parrenthorn will be expanded. The Derby and Broad Oak, meanwhile, will close and be replaced by a new £20 million school, which bosses are looking to build at Bury Ground by 2011.

Campaigners for the affected schools are dismayed at the findings, saying that a proper case has not been made.

But the council says that there will be 2,400 empty places in the borough's high schools in a decade's time. And as funding follows the pupil, some would effectively go broke if nothing is done. They say the closures will allow them to pump more money into the remaining schools - at least half a million pounds - with better facilities and an expanded curriculum. They say the decision in no way reflects the quality of the schools' leadership or teaching.

If the executive approves the proposals on Tuesday, parents and professionals have a final six weeks to make their views known before the SOC decides for good.

Council leader Wayne Campbell said: "This is one of the hardest decisions I have had to make, but we have to make hard decisions to keep the high standards of education that Bury has set. We've got to look to the future and give children the best chance."

He said the council had listened and responded accordingly to the 2,329 who took part in the past few months of consultation.

This will be good news: a new school and building in East Bury, and an enlarged refurbished school at Parrenthorn.

Coun Campbell said it was too early to say what would happen to the current school sites, but he promised that any money raised through selling them off would be ploughed back into education.

Any assumption that the council would pick schools on the most valuable sites has proved not to be the case.

However, finance bosses say that redundancy and early retirement bills could be £800,000 for each school, which the sale of the sites might pay for.

East ward councillor Mike Connolly, deputy council leader, added: Broad Oak and Derby presented a good case for social inclusion and community work.

It is disappointing in the short term and I feel for the teachers, pupils and families, but as a Bury East councillor, I am delighted that we'll have a £20 million, state-of-the-art school to give our children the best possible opportunities.

The precise recommendations are:

1) To close both Broad Oak and Derby with effect from autumn 2007, and operate from a split site until the new 900-pupil school can be built. This would reduce capacity by 760 places.

2) Prestwich Arts College to stop admitting pupils from autumn 2007. Anyone then on roll would continue to be educated there until 2011, when all existing year groups will have passed through the school. Parrenthorn, meanwhile, will be retained and enhanced to include a sixth form and 900 pupils. A federation between Prestwich and Parrenthorn could be set up to maintain standards during this transition period. All told, the move would reduce capacity by 765 places.

These recommendations follow criteria which were drawn up for the eight state schools affected by threatened closure.

The report says that there is an overlap in the community served by Broad Oak and Derby, and to close only one could increase segregation in a deprived area.

Prestwich, meanwhile, could soon be taking the majority of its pupils from outside the borough, while many parents in the catchment area do not choose the school as their first priority.

Councillors expect to receive more money by 2014 under the Government's Building Schools for the Future programme to refurbish all its remaining high schools.

Mr Mark Sanders, the council's chief executive, admitted there may be redundancies but the council would deal with those the best it could.

He also repeated an earlier promise that Parrenthorn was not given preferential treatment because it had recently won £7.5 million for refurbishment.

(BLOB) Timeline:

June 2003: The Bury Times reveals that the council will launch a review of all secondary schools, just a year after a similar exercise led to several primaries closing.

April 2005: Formal consultations start in principle, and continue over the summer.

November 2005: The council announces that eight schools have been paired for consultation purposes, with one school in each pair possibly closing. Religious schools, along with Woodhey, are spared.

January 2006: Protests mount as parents turn out en masse at area board meetings, and lobby Bury North MP David Chaytor. They say the closures are about money, and say class sizes, not school sizes, are the key.

January 31, 2006: The council's ruling executive will propose which schools will close.

February 2006: A statutory notice published to that effect. A further six weeks of consultation starts.

April/May 2006: The Schools Organisation Committee makes final decision. The SOC comprises councillors, governors/heads, the Learning and Skills Council, and representatives from the Church of England and Roman Catholic faiths. A decision must be unanimous.

Autumn 2007: School closures start to take effect.

2011? New school to replace Broad Oak and Derby opens.