PARENTS and pupils will be asked what they think about a multi-million pound scheme schools swap around.
    And it's Dover views that will drive the proposals, promises education area director Neil Mullett.
    We should respond rather than impose. Otherwise there could be a backlash," he warned.
    The go-ahead for public meetings was reported in last week's Dover Express, At the request of St Edmund's RC Comprehensive School, with over 620 students, they have been brought into the consultation process.
    The county councillors were told St Edmunds would like to take over the Castlemount school, closing next summer.
    Under the proposed massive shake-up the Grammar School for Boys would quit its imposing buildings at Astor Avenue to be taken over by Astor secondary school.
    The grammar boys would move into the vacated Castlemount school buildings where, possibly, a sixth form centre - shared with the senior girls from the grammar school - would be established.
    This eventually, could lead to a co-educational grammar school with the girls also moving from their Frith Road school to Castlemount.
    Conservative county councillors gave guarded support to the switch-round, although Paul Watkins expressed concern about the provision of sporting facilities.
    Labour county councillors attacked the plan with Mrs Trudy Deal (SLD) claiming it was a scheme powered by the two grammar schools - unable to recruit - to dictate to other schools the terms for secondary school reorganisation.
    Selective education, she contended was more expensive and she had never seen proof that it worked. She wanted a wide ranging review of education in Dover to see if there was an overall demand for comprehensive education.
    Christopher Store, for the Catholic schools, accused the county council of bad faith in not including St Edmunds which had been negotiating for Castlemount for three years. St Edmunds viewed the scheme with dismay and incredulity," he said.
    Labour's Paul Verrill said the scheme was designed to save grammar schools at all costs. He said the falling rolls at the grammar schools proved parents were sending their children elsewhere so they could get a better education.
    John Barnes, who is also chairman of the governors of Dover Grammar Schools for Boys, said he thought they were doing Astor a favour by moving from their "castle on the hill".
    A call by Labour to refer the whole issue back so a new plan could be drawn up was defeated, by 15 votes to 12.

School Name	Actual Rolls				Forecast Rolls
l		Spr 90	Sum 90	Aut90		90/91	91/92	92/93	93/94	94/95
Archers Court High School		717	706	706		686	680	697	701	721
Astor High School		1047	1037	1161		1077	1121	1177	1216	1212
Dover Grammar Boys		533	529	518		494	490	482	486	478
Dover Grammar Girls		575	569	561		557	537	533	523	530
St Edmunds R.C. School		601	599	629		612	631	646	648	642
Warmer School		492	494	523		529	550	579	587	575

The falling rolls in the Grammar Schools are entirely due to the fall in the overall number of children and to the selection system recently being brought into line across the County.
The Grammar Schools are with a negligible number of exceptions, recruiting all the pupils that they are allowed to recruit under the selection system. They are extremely successful schools with excellent results being achieved in happy ordered communities. When the selection system allows them to, Parents are sending their children to the Grammar Schools. Every year there are a great number of appeals by parents anxious to gain a Grammar School place for there children.