Renton school to shut despite last-ditch protest

Dec 25 2009 by Marc Mclean, Lennox Herald (main ed)

COLD-hearted council chiefs are charging ahead with plans to close St Martin’s Primary in Renton – and claim it should have been shut years ago.

Controlling SNP councillors ignored the pleas of parents and pupils, who protested at last week’s full council meeting in Dumbarton, and just scraped a vote which almost certainly spells the end for the Renton school.

The vote to move to statutory consultation – the final formal stage before planned closure in June – was tied at 9-9.

However, provost Denis Agnew used his casting vote to side with the SNP.

Furious Labour councillors accused the SNP of “ripping the heart out of Renton”, while parents shouted “disgraceful” from the public gallery after the decision was taken.

Councillor Jim Bollan, who protested with parents and pupils before the council meeting, warned the fight is far from over.

He said: “The parents of St Martin’s schoolchildren put a viable, sustainable alternative on the table to keep the school open.

“When the education director and the SNP group realised this plan by the parents would save the school and be financially viable, the criteria and rules were quickly changed to scupper the parents’ proposals.

“This decision to close St Martin’s is only round one in a long fight.

“The SNP can try and close services in Renton but we will fight them every step of the way and by whatever means.

“People in the village will relish taking on the ‘Tartan Tories’ to keep their primary school open.”

Education bosses plan on moving the school’s 45 pupils to St Mary’s in Alexandria to make way for the amalgamation of nurseries in the school building.

St Martin’s parents had suggested that the school building become a shared campus for both nursery toddlers and primary children.

However, the idea was rejected on the basis that the children would benefit “through the abolition of multi-composite classes and exposure to a greater number of teachers.”

Labour Councillor Geoff Calvert called on the four independent councillors to back his group in saving St Martin’s – however only George Black and Marie McNair answered his plea.

Councillor Calvert commended the school’s parents, saying: “They have looked at costs, but they have also come up with the solution of bringing the two early education centres in, which will make the building sustainable and would keep St Martin’s open for business.

“It’s a very sensible suggestion coming from the community, and worthy of support.”

His colleague, councillor John Millar, who represents the Renton area, said to SNP councillors: “You have a chance to prevent this closure so stand up and be counted. Don’t rip the heart out of Renton.”

SNP council leader Iain Robertson told how the school was also under threat when his son attended over 25 years ago.

He went on: “I’m absolutely confident that, wherever the children end up as a consequence of this, they will end up with a good education.

“It’s about the wider responsibility we have to education and the whole school community.”

SNP Councillor May Smillie, the council’s education convener, said: “The last thing I want to do is close any school because I’m a parent myself and understand the close ties any family has with their own school.

“Unfortunately I find myself in a situation where we have got to live in the real world as well.

“As much as my heart tells me we shouldn’t close any school, the reality of the situation is we’ve got to do what we can with the resources we have.

“Those resources don’t extend to paying twice as much for the education of some pupils compared to pupils in other schools.”

She added: “There’s been indecision for over 25 years now, and that’s because previous administrations just didn’t have the guts to go ahead with making an unpopular decision.

“I really think a decision should have been made years ago.”

Independent Councillor George Black spearheaded the campaign to try and save Milton Primary, but Labour councillors shut the village school in June 2004.

He said: “I know the effect on the school, the children, staff and the community.

“The SNP group have been very forthright in their stance and said it’s for financial reasons.

“There’s no doubt as to why the SNP group has come to this decision.

“My head tells me they’re right, but my heart tells me they are not because of my previous experiences.”