This link will take you to the full report which goes to the City of Edinburgh Council on Thursday 23 August 2007.
Campaigners should note the criteria for closure and might wish to question the years (2000-2006) from which average pupil rolls have been extracted (what is the roll in 2007? what is the forecast from 2007-2010?)
A further question might be about school premises usage. School lets are entirely dependent on janitorial availability – has this been a problem at your school? Could your school have been let out more? What was the demand for lets (rather than the availability)? Does the school lets department keep a tally of all requests, or just of all lets?
As part of our efforts to support parents and school communities in their fight to stop school closures, we recommend the following link to Scottish Executive guidelines on school closures.
There are recommended procedures which should be followed by the City of Edinburgh Council. It is important that parents ask for the full background information which has led to the closure recommendations. The Council should provide: a School Estate Management Plan; details of their Option Appraisal Process; and “open, transparent” audit trail. The Council must “have regard to the wishes of parents”.
