The concern with how schools on the Island are being reformed continues. We caught up with Cllr Melanie Swan (MS) last week at County Hall and did a quick interview.
She was still in a state of shock over the briefing that the elected members had received about the actual school closures.
The shock started when they were only given two days notice of the meeting, and given this, many of the elected members were unable to attend.
MS felt that this and the way members are being given the information makes it “difficult for the elected members to know what is going on,” not helped by the situation that “the whole education debate has been shrouded in confusion, secrecy and constant changes.”
In Melanie’s view, the “elected members — who are supposed to represent the people living in their wards — are being ruled out of discussion which they ought to be included in, for the benefit of their communities.”
Where’s the school sale money going?
You will remember that when concerns were raised by many people about what the money raised from the sale of the proposed closed schools would be used for, the official line from the IW Council was that it would only be spent on Children’s services.
MS has been looking into this and asking specific questions to Steve Beynon, coming to the conclusion that “legally, I can’t see any way in which this can be accomplished.”
After much pressing, Steve Beynon, Director of Children’s Services, revealed that what the money would be used for was up to the next administration, not the current one, as they may only be in power for another year.
Opinion
It would be a pretty shocking double cross if the council are not able to guarantee that monies from the possible sale of schools were not be used for what the council assured us all it would be used for.
Have a listen …
[audio:http://otw-audio.s3.amazonaws.com/melanie-swan-edu-confusing.mp3]
