As readers will know, VB has followed pretty much every twist and turn of the proposed shakeup of the schools system on the Isle of Wight.
We thought that a reminder of some of the issues that have come up over the last year might be of interest.
£7 million conundrum
Remember the claim that unless the issue of surplus places in schools was addressed the Government would withdraw £7-8 million funding from the Island?
David Pugh, leader of the Council stated this was the reason why they proposed closing at least 23 schools on the Island when presenting at the Ventnor Middle School public meeting at the beginning of the informal consultation.
Strangely though, the IWC Press Office directly contradicted Mr Pugh, by subsequently telling VB that it was not the case.
We had countless emails back and forth with them but they stonewalled VB, insisting that they had answered our questions – they hadn’t.
We eventually got a statement from Steve Beynon, but that didn’t really answer the question either.
It left many wondering who to believe.
IW Council reported to LGO for using inappropriate research
Then there was the case of the Chale School parent who reported the IWC to the Local Government Ombudsman for quoting inappropriate and misleading research. Research that was used to back up recommendations in the documentation presented to Cabinet for consideration. Hmmm.
You might be interested to also read the parent’s letter of objection to the schools closure addressed to Alex Moffat.
Cost of transport
One concern that was raised but didn’t seem to get answers was the issue of the extra cost of transportation. If schools were being closed and kids needing to be bused around the Island, had anyone worked out what it would cost? It didn’t appear so.
This was tackled by the former County Councillor Melanie Swan last year. We interviewed her about it in July Follow the link to listen to the podcast.
Money for buildings
There is a question mark over whether the money needed to rebuild Island schools can be relied on long term.
Readers might remember the query raised by Wendy Varley. She was concerned that due to the economic downturn whether the funding would be available to honour building all the new proposed schools.
Cllr Wells dismissed it as speculation despite the fact that a statement put out by the cross-party Children, Schools and Families Committee said,
….. there is concern that the review of Building Schools for the Future will lead to the programme being curtailed.
Could be back to the temporary classrooms in the playground for our kids then if the plans go ahead.
Some councillors are confident that the funding will be made available by the current government – as long as this government is in power.
David Cameron has already stated that if the Conservatives get into power, they will cut £4.55 Billion pounds from the Building Schools for the Future programme, potentially leaving the Island schools demolished, but no money to rebuild them.
Sack us or back us
As we said earlier in the week, we’ve been surprised by the number of people who didn’t realise that the Conservatives were running with the ‘Back us or Sack us’ challenge. Effectively saying that if you don’t like what we’re planning for the schools don’t vote us in again.
Many people we’ve spoken to around the Island were not aware of this, so we’ll have to wait until tomorrow lunchtime to see whether it makes any difference to the voting.
