News / Bressay closure report
A COUNCIL report recommending Bressay primary school and nursery close this coming summer is to be published on Monday.
Shetland Islands Council will decide whether to follow officials’ advice and close the four pupil primary on 12 February after the issue is debated by the education and families committee two days earlier.
The report follows a consultation which attracted 20 written responses, many of which were concerned about the impact of closure on the island’s future.
Officials pointed out that the school has a capacity for 75 pupils, but is only utilising five per cent of that space as most island parents take their children to be taught in Lerwick.
As a result the cost of educating each child on Bressay comes to almost £40,000, compared to the Shetland average of £6,614.
If the council agrees to close the primary, the four children will be sent to Bell’s Brae in Lerwick, where the cost per pupil is £5,481. At the moment no nursery age children attend on the island.
The education department argues that the main reason for closing the school are educational, giving children more time with their peers and a wider choice of teachers.
However the closure would save the authority £74,693, a welcome sum at a time when it is seeking savings of £3 million from reducing its school estate.
The school’s head teacher and its four part time staff would all be offered jobs within the council under its redeployment policy, but the loss of jobs on the island will be a blow.
If closure goes ahead, the building could be offered up for remote working or let as office space, but if no interest was found the council would place it on the property market.
The consultation report on closure can be found here.
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