Brighton and Hove: Committee backs school closures
Councillors have recommended closing two primary schools
Councillors have recommended closing two primary schools because of a lack of numbers and finances in the red.
The final decision on whether to close St Bartholomew’s Church of England (CofE) Primary School, in Brighton, and St Peter’s Community Primary School, in Portslade, will now go before a special meeting of the full council on Monday (4 March).
Parents, teachers and children from both schools and members of the National Education Union protested in the rain outside Hove Town Hall before the proposal was discussed yesterday (Thursday 29 February).
But they proved unable to sway Brighton and Hove City Council’s Children, Families and Schools Committee.
The two primary schools are the smallest in Brighton and Hove and the whole area has been affected by a falling birth rate, with fewer children starting in Reception classes, as well as families moving to more affordable neighbouring areas.
The council plans to shut the schools in August in addition to cutting Reception admission numbers at six other schools.
Labour councillor Jacob Taylor, who chaired the meeting today, said: “We have 29 out of 48 schools in our city in deficit – 60 per cent. That is, in my opinion, beyond a crisis point for the primary sector in this city.
“No responsible council in the country could continue without taking action on that position.”
School funding – from the government – is based on pupil numbers while a significant proportion of costs are wages, resulting in so many primary schools operating at a deficit because of falling admissions.
The council’s head of schools organisation Richard Barker told the committee that falling pupil numbers in turn limited how many teachers and support staff a school could employ.
St Bartholomew’s head teacher Katie Blood addressed the meeting and called the plans “unkind”, saying: “There is no financial gain to the council in closing this school. There is only a cost, both human and financial."