School closures not on the cards in rural area

Twm Owen Local Democracy Reporter

A councillor has ruled out school closures amid a row over the future of a small primary, after rumours circulated that a Welsh medium primary would take its place.

A petition has claimed Kymin View Primary School, in Wyesham, Monmouth could be closed and the recently established Ysgol Gymraeg Trefynwy would move into its building.

But Councillor Laura Wright, Monmouthshire County Council’s cabinet member for education, has dismissed school closures as a solution to surplus places and denied any proposal to remove English medium education from Kymin View.

The council has said it is having to address falling pupil numbers in Monmouth and Chepstow but has said: “The county council wishes to clarify that there are no plans to close Kymin View or any other school within the county.”

Labour Cllr Wright said: “Monmouthshire County Council, schools, parents and members of the community will need to work together to think about how we address surplus places in our schools. However, I have been very clear that school closures are not part of the solution. We are also not proposing to remove English medium education from Kymin View.”

Her comments come after the council had issued a statment earlier in the week that described claims over the future of Kymin View as “speculative” and said it has yet to make any “firm” proposals on how to deal with surplus places.

The statement from Cllr Wright was issued due to “concern and anxiety in Monmouth prompted by rumours circulating online and in the local media”.

Cllr Wright acknowledged the “higher than average” number of vacant places in Monmouth primary schools needs to be addressed and said: “As you would expect, there have been some very early stage conversations about the low pupil numbers in some of our schools and the challenge that this presents. Having those discussions is the right and responsible thing for us to do.”

At the county council’s July meeting it was stated by director of education, Will McLean, the Chepstow and Monmouth school clusters have “significant numbers of surplus places” which he said was about 200 primary age pupils in both areas.

Mr McLean also said it isn’t anticipated new housing, including those expected from the council’s ongoing local development plan, will produce a “sufficient” number of youngsters to fill the empty places.

He said the council wants to work with the four schools in Monmouth on solutions and said a meeting, with schools earlier in July, looked at what the “likely solution could be for dealing with surplus places” as well as the long-term future of Ysgol Gymraeg Trefynwy which opened last September within Overmonnow Primary in Monmouth.

He said any proposals will have to be made in line with Welsh Government regulations and said working through the options would likely be a “challenging and complex period”.

Mr McLean said reports on addressing surplus places in both Monmouth and Chepstow will likely be brought to the council’s scrutiny committees, and the decision making cabinet, in the autumn term. Plans for the school building programme, to be submitted to the Welsh Government, will also be considered though Mr McLean cautioned: “New schools cost an awful lot of money.”