Closure hit list to axe primary and secondary schools 3/2/10
Western Isles Council has drawn up a controversial hit list of 18 schools earmarked for closure.
Councillors are being asked to approve a raft of official consultations which is legally required to axe the schools.
If successful it will abolish the Hebrides’s unique rural two-
An earlier closure attempt became embroiled in farce and chaos and the Scottish Government ordered the council to retain four rural units.
Fourteen primary schools are also listed for the chop in a staggered closure in the coming years.
The number of island schools by half to just 21 which a report insists is required to tackle significant problems in paying for “too many buildings with too few pupils.”
The word closure or shutting schools does not appear anywhere in the report -
However, it is highly unlikely there there will a merger of any schools -
The report says schools should not close until the receiving campus has, at least, plans in place to be upgrade the building to a satisfactory condition.
Some 65% of pupils are taught in crumbling schools which are the focus of the closures.
But Iochdar, Paible, Sgoil Lionacleit and Castlebay schools which are also in a poor condition would be renovated to accommodate displaced pupils from shut schools.
Pupil numbers have dropped by half to 3657 this year compared to 6315 in 17975.
About £40 million would be needed to bring all the existing buildings up to standard plus £ 4 million annually to maintain them.
Western Isles Council also needs to save £10 million over the next three years and axing the schools would be part of the cutbacks.
About £40 million would be needed to bring all the existing buildings up to standard plus £ 4 million annually to maintain them.
The council also needs cash to put towards the £50 million bill for five new centralised schools which are being constructed from this summer while major savings are required for maintaining expensive elderly care services.
Under the plans, consultations would start immediately through a series of community conversations though the proposed dates for Lionel, Daliburgh, Paible, and Stoneybridge were penciled in for this week.
Councillors are expected to approve the controversial proposals on Tuesday.
New rules require six weeks within a school term for statutory consultations so it is proposed to finish this before the summer holiday starts.
A rush of consultations would take place from May onwards from the Butt to Barra with councillors voting over closures in November.
Councillors will be told the first to go would be Balallan, Cross, Sandwick, Stoneybridge
and Lochmaddy primaries as well as secondaries at Daliburgh and Paible -
In 2012, it is planned to shut Bragar, Carloway, Scalpay, Shelibost schools on top of Lionel and Shawbost rural secondaries.
Eriskay, Eoiligarry and Bernera would go in each of the following years with Tolsta and Tong being the last two to close in 2018.