The plans presented in September were stamped at the meeting of the Cabinet last night, since the Vicenal and Director of Education, Cllr Anntininette Bramble, and their colleagues voted in favor of closing after months of public consultation and protest.
Cllr Bramble said the decision was not light tasks, but that it was necessary to “safeguard the quality of education” in Hackney.
The Catholic Elementary School of ST Dominic, the Primary School of the Church of Santa María de England, the Oldhill Community School and the Sir Thomas Abney Elementary School will close permanently since September.
Oldhill’s students will merge with the Harrington Hill Elementary School in Clapton, while Sir Thomas Abney’s children will be transferred to Holmleigh Elementary School in Stamford Hill.
The decision is produced in the middle of a long -term decrease in the numbers of students that means less money; According to the National Financing Formula, the Government assigns funds based on the numbers of students of a school.
The closures follow those of four Hackney primaries last year in similar circumstances.
Duration The meeting, Cllr Bramble pointed out the data tasks of the school census in January of this year, which showed 613 places of reception in Hackney had not been covered, “equivalent to approximately 30 empty classrooms.”
He added that from the reception to the year 6, thousands of unemployed school places amounted to approximately 130 empty classrooms throughout the municipality.
Each school had a “unrecoverable” budget deficit, according to the documents of the Board, with the ‘projected of ST Dominic to reach almost £ 1 million by the end of the financial year 2025/26.
“Every time a school is not, you can’t do the places to occupy the places and there is less money that is brought to dose schools, not only daily education in those lessons at risk,” said Cllr Bramble, all stakes, educators, children love schools, all that would be at risk. ”
CLLR Claudia Turbet-Delof (Independent Socialist) asked if the Council took stock of a process that the parents felt that they had an “accelerated” leg and had not addressed problems of affection, such as the scarcity of housing and the cost of living.
His colleague, Cllr Penny Wrout, challenged the Council on why he had not prepared a way to guarantee special needs students were transferred to educational environments that “guaranteed the continuity of the teaching staff.”
Cllr Bramble replied that, under the legal guide, the City Council “unfortunately” could not demand that the specialist personnel be used elsewhere.
However, he said that school vacancies could be announced internally to those educators and support workers whose schools were closing, giving them the first opportunity to run.
As for the broader factors, the mayor of the vice president said that the crisis of the cost of living and the problem of the residents that abandon the city centers affected all London and not only Hackney, but not Phes was the role of the Council to respond.
The City Council has published how it plans to support these closing schools.
Laura-Louise fairly, an activist of the Green Party present at the meeting, said she was “disconsolate and furious” for the decision, and urged the Council to face the Government about the school financing formula.
The independent socialist group of Hackney said the working administration should “understand how deeply harmful it is for a complete area” when schools are forced to close.
They accused the Hackney cabinet or “essential rubber print” a decision made months before.
“Less than a year ago since it closed four other schools, but they have not learned lessons from those closures or what school communities have soon told them,” said the group.
“Why does the Council not fight to change defects in the financing formula, which penalizes schools as soon as classes fall below 30 students?
“Labor councilors twist their hands and apologize, apparently in the denial that their own government is not doing anything to help the situation.”
The local democracy reports (LDRS) asked the City Council if it had been committed to the Islington Council in its plans to press the City Council and the Government to change the financing formula, to avoid future school closures.
Islington must decide on similar proposals to close two or its event of the primary schools tomorrow.
A spokesman for the City Council with LDRS Hackney staff was in contact with his neighboring municipality on how both tips could “work in association to address the widest issue of the fall in rolls.”
In a statement this morning, Cllr Bramble said: “We know that the decision will be difficult for our children, families and staff members.
“Our schools have built a lasting legacy within their local communities, and their absence will be lost deeply.
“But the big schools are the rule, not the exception in our municipality, and the families that make the transition will find a new place for their son where they will recite as much care, love and support as they have done in the past.”
A work spokesman said that, after a “hard work” of the working administration, the municipality’s education had been delivered from one of the worst performance authorities in London to one of the best in the country.
“No one moves in a place to consult schools, but we simply have more spaces in the schools than we have children to fill them, and that is still a growing problem,” said the spokesman.
“Numerous things have helped create this challenging situation that is unfortunately out of the control of the counter.
“So, we are a walking thesis due to difficult decisions to ensure that all our schools can work efficiently and continuously to provide the best education that children can prosper.”
