"Broken promises" fury over schools

by Graham Tutthill

    THE plan to merge Dover's grammar schools on a new site was killed off by county councillors at the education committee meeting at Maidstone on Monday.
    Amid accusations of broken promises, they voted to withdraw the proposal two years after governors, staff and parents had said they believed it was the best way forward for the schools.
    New public consultation will now take place on a £5.5million plan to merge the schools on the former Castlemount site. The possible use of Nonington College is also back on the agenda.
    This week, education committee chairman Cllr Ronnie Norman dismissed the greenfield site plan as a "local-made Nirvana" rather than anything the county council had put forward.
    "It is the people of Dover who have hoped that a miracle would happen and the money would be awarded," he said.
    Cllr John Dames said the greenfield site carrot had been dangled in front of the governors.
    But Cllr Norman replied: "I don't think this committee or myself have ever dangled the greenfield site in front of them. The schools in Dover keep changing their minds." County education director Roy Prycke said there had been expectation that there would be an injection of finance for secondary education in Dover.
    He said the latest proposals did not increase the size of St Edmund's school, which had been hoping to move to the Castlemount site.
    The county officials came under fire from Christopher Storr, the Catholic church representative on the committee.
    He said the Catholics had spent £30,000 on professional fees in the belief that they would be able to move St Edmund's to the former Castlemount site, and he hinted that if the work proved to be abortive legal action might be taken against the county council to recover some of the money.
    "At a meeting on November 3 it was quite clear that everybody's expectation was that Castlemount would be sold to us after four years of negotiation.".
    But, he said, the following week the area director had withdrawn his support for the building programme and plans were drawn up to merge the grammar schools on the site.
    Cllr Gwyn Prosser spoke of a "catalogue of broken promises" by the county council which had led to great difficulties in the Dover schools.
    "Past reviews have failed to address the problems," he said. "I think it was close to deception for the council to portray there was a chance of a greenfield site for the school."

    Cllr Bames said that as well as the Castlemount and Nonington College proposals, the possibility of leaving things as they are should also be kept in the consultations.

Excellent

    Cllr Paul Watkins said the Castlemount plan was "an excellent chance" to get better facilities for science, technology and drama. But the playing field issue needed to be addressed, otherwise, he said, the proposal would go "down the pan".
    "If the parents say no, then the only solution seems to be for the grammar schools to opt out at the earliest opportunity," he said.
    Afterwards Dover Boys' Grammar School headteacher Neil Slater said: "We are confident that we can continue as an excellent boys' grammar school.
    "What is being offered to us is a second-rate site. It is an inadequate plan for the selective education of children in Dover."

    The boys' school governors met on Tuesday to consider their next move, and the girls' school governors are meeting next week.