Members of the Save Our Schools group attended an extraordinary meeting of the Education, Children and Families Committee yesterday, giving several deputations detailing their views on the alternatives options raised by the Council in their recent Outcome Report.
The meeting heard deputations from the Parent Councils of each of the schools affected by the proposals stating how important all of the schools were to their communities and to raise concerns over how the changes would impact local people. During a joint deputation members of all the Parent Councils gave their support for Alternative Option 1, which would see both WHEC and Currie remain open and Balerno High School expanded.
The Wester Hailes Education Centre deputation by Chairperson of WHEC parent Council, Amanda Campbell and local resident, Rik Morley, highlighted the view that the WHEC is not just a school but an important community hub, how the creation of a “superschool” might impact pupils as well as the loss of greenspace and impact on wildlife should Curriemuirend Park be used as the site of a new school.
You can watch the deputations from all of the schools on the Council’s webcast portal here. Following the meeting the Council has extended the consultation period on their website by two weeks to allow more people to share their view on the alternative options.
The next step will see the Council take another report to the Education Children and Families Committee meeting on 22 May 2018. This report will propose which, if any, of the options should go to statutory consultation.
