school closures

RESEARCH into the effects of the closure of small schools in Wales has been done for the first time, the Western Mail can reveal today.

The nation has a long history of shutting schools but this study � which has made "controversial" findings � will be the first indication of how pupils' education is affected when it is published next month.

It has also emerged that this ad hoc closure trend contrasts dramatically with Scotland, where the new Scottish National Party government has reversed closures agreed by the former Labour administration.

Last Thursday Scottish Education Minister Fiona Hyslop also wrote to all of Scotland's councils highlighting the importance of quality education rather than closing schools to save cash.

She stressed the importance of considering the wider impact on communities and of assessing the effects on pupils' education.

And in England the Government issued advice "against presumption of closure" in 1998. Ofsted reports have repeatedly outlined good results from small schools and some councils, including Durham, have a policy of supporting small schools.

In Wales, campaigners have consistently argued that closing schools, which happens mainly in rural areas, destroys village life. They say smaller classes deliver the personalised learning that politicians often advocate. And they believe closures are driven by cost, rather than improving education.

Results of the new ￡30,000 study, commissioned by the Institute of Welsh Affairs and funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, will be unveiled at a conference in Cardiff in November.

It is expected to conclude that shutting small schools can have benefits for pupils moved to larger schools with more facilities and children.

The research looked at evidence from six schools shut in Powys and Pembrokeshire over the last decade. Interviews were carried out with 48 people, including parents, governors, teachers and eight pupils. They were asked questions ranging from how closure had affected the Welsh language to what it meant for education.

IWA director John Osmond and the report's author, Professor David Reynolds from Exeter University, suggested many had found closures delivered positive outcomes.

Mr Osmond said, "On the whole people dislike change, but sometimes after having been through change they look at it in a different light.

"It's a question of what replaces what they had.

"We are not advocating a particular course of action on one side or the other. We are just looking for evidence. We were surprised by the results."

Professor Reynolds described the findings as "controversial'' and questioned why the Welsh Assembly Government had not carried out its own study into one of today's most pressing educational issues.

"We asked what were the advantages and disadvantages of reorganisation and what lessons are there to be learned?" he said.

"We collected performance data from Pembrokeshire, which looked at whether the closed schools did better than the new schools that pupils were sent to.

"We wanted to know � does education improve after closure or not?

"It is extraordinary and ridiculous that the Welsh Assembly Government has not done research itself. We have to ask ourselves why this has not been done before?

"This is the first time this research has been done, although small school closures have been a live issue for 20 to 30 years in Wales.

"There are lots of schools with 20, 30, 40 pupils in England and they are not closing.

"The important thing is that this research leads to fully-funded WAG research across Wales.

"It would cost six figures, but if you think of the potential benefits they would be huge and I don't understand why it has not been done before.

"The findings of this research are sure to be controversial."

Sarah Millington, whose son Stephen, seven, is a pupil at Howey Church in Wales School in Powys, which faces closure next August, said, "Classes are smaller so they get more individual time and attention."

Mervyn Benford, national co-ordinator of the National Association for Small Schools, claimed there was evidence showing learning and behaviour was better in small schools. CONNELLSVILLE - Rumors and speculation that the Connellsville Area School District has its sights set on shuttering a South Side neighborhood school, drew a few dozen residents to the Wednesday meeting hoping to change the purported board decision.


However, board President Francis Mongell asked the group's spokesman, South Side resident and Connellsville City Councilman David McIntire, to allow the board to first hold a public hearing to discuss the issues of possible reconfiguration of grade levels and school closures and their impact on the district before residents begin voicing their concerns.

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"I know there has been a lot of petitions circulating about the possible closing of the (South Side Elementary School), a lot of false information," Mongell said. "This is an issue that is of grave concern to everybody; (the board) is going to have to deal with a number of things that are happening right now in our school district, not only declining enrollment, but financially."

Mongell said that the board would hold a public hearing for such comments within the next few months as it considers a long-term plan for the district.

"Everything that we do in terms of matters of school closures, must be done in public," he said. "Nothing will be done behind closed doors."

While Director Ed Zadylak has been urging the board to begin the public hearing process, Mongell said that he wants to wait until the panel's new members take their positions in December to allow them to become familiar with the facts and figures.

Incumbent directors Thomas Dolde, Richard Galen and Kenneth "Chip" Nicholson did not seek re-election and will likely be replaced by Denise Martin, James Fabian and Jon Detwiler who, along with Mongell and Director Kevin Lape, secured the Democratic and Republican nomination for the available five seats on the board in the May primary election.

According to the Public School Code, the board is required to hold a public hearing about a school closing 90 days prior to the closure.

The closure of a single or multiple facilities can take place if officials determine that enrollment has decreased, the condition of the building has deteriorated or if grade levels are to be restructured, according to the code.

One of several options offered to the officials in a recent feasibility study was to shutter three elementary schools, operate a kindergarten through fourth grade at the remaining elementary buildings, implement a fifth-grade through eighth-grade middle school at the two junior high schools and initiate a ninth-grade through 12th-grade senior high school.

The related option also recommended that a kindergarten through third-grade program be operated a C.N. Pritts Elementary School and fourth-grade through seventh-grade program at the Springfield Township Elementary School.

The trio of buildings under consideration for closure includes South Side, Connellsville Township and Dunbar Borough elementary schools.

Mongell, along with Zadylak have been proponents of the reconfiguration of grade levels in the past.

There has been no public discussion or official action tied to school closures or reconfiguration.

Mongell, a South Side resident, said that he "understands" the concerns of parents that appreciate having their child within walking distance of their homes, but points to those children who also are considered neighborhood residents and attend Zachariah Connell Elementary School because of the location of their home.

"This is going to be a very personal issue for parents, students and those working at the schools and I understand that," he said. "Our job is going to be to make the best decision that we can, based on the facts and figures we have before us.

"I am going to make every effort possible to do what is in the best interest of this school district."

Turning to other matters, the board:

- Agreed to award contracts to lowest bidders meeting requirements for winter sports supplies and equipment.

- Hired Ron Wiltrout as Junior High East wrestling assistant coach; Gary Thomas as Junior High East girls basketball coach; and Alan McCutcheon, Junior High West assistant football coach.

- Renewed an HVAC service agreement with Combustion Service and Equipment Co.

- Admitted Rosemary Thorpe as a non-traditional student in the cosmetology program.

- Approved senior high school math teacher Jennie Becker's attendance at a Nov. 7-9 math seminar at Valley Forge at an approximate cost of $200 for one substitute teacher for two days.

- Added Eleanor Hagerman and Nancy Calisti, elementary; Stephanie Knopsnider, nurse; Christy Shields, elementary/secondary school counselor, and Carole Whetzel, elementary/early childhood to the professional substitute list.

- Approved the addition of Lauren Cuneo, Robert Malia, Karen Morrison, Bruce Santmyer, Heather Biller, Urey Mortimore, John Osler, Ashleigh Weimer, Alicia Martin and Katlyn Andyjohn to the emergency substitute list.

- Agreed to compensate Patricia Miller $7.50 per hour for duties performed as a seasonal tax clerk/secretary for the City of Connellsville Treasurer's Office beginning Oct. 18.

- Discontinued participation with the Pennsylvania Association of Rural and Small Schools.

- Approved the attendance of senior high school librarian Janice Albright to attend the Oct. 25-28 American Association of School Librarians Conference in Reno, Nev., at a maximum cost of $200.

- Hired Katy Proud as a four-hour cafeteria employee at an hourly salary of $11.77.

- Changed a five-hour cafeteria worker position at South Side Elementary School to a four-hour position.

- Hired Stacey Huffman as the Junior High West yearbook advisor.

- Approved teachers Carol Kirk, Eleanorann Miller and Dom Grenaldo and 40 Thespian Club members to attend the Nov. 29 through Dec. 1 PA Annual Thespian Conference in York at a cost of $600 for three substitute teachers for two days.

- Added 13 students to attendance list at the Oct. 31 through Nov. 2 Skills USA Western Region Leadership Training Workshop at Seven Springs Resort. Fiona Hyslop, the Education Secretary, has been accused of blatantly breaching her own department's guide- lines by intervening to defend seven two-year secondaries from closure in the Western Isles.

The guidelines, which Fiona Hyslop has just re-issued to local authorities asking that they be observed, specifically say ministers can't interfere with school closures.

The Western Isles row centres on proposals to close four primary schools and the seven two-year secondaries in the islands.

advertisementIn the end, councillors voted to review of all its schools and to proceed to consultation on the closure of the secondaries.

Ms Hyslop has recently reissued guidance published by the Scottish Executive in 2004, which island councillors believe supports their view that the education secretary should never have become involved.

Consent of Scottish ministers is only needed if the school earmarked for closure has a roll exceeding 80% of its capacity; primary pupils would have to travel five or more miles distant from their present school and 10 miles for secondary pupils; or in certain circumstances where there is a proposed change to the provision of denominational education in the area.

The guidance states: "In all cases the final decision rests with the education authority as to how to fulfil its statutory duties, including such decisions as whether to close, merge or change the site of a school.

It is not the role of ministers to second guess decisions taken by an authority or to act as some sort of appeal court' for those who disagree with a council's decision."

Crucially they state: "Despite widespread assumptions to the contrary, ministers have no locus to, and cannot interfere or intervene in council proposals for and decisions on school changes or closures beyond their defined role in cases where the council decision must be referred for ministerial consent."

Western Isles Councillors believe it was highly inappropriate for the cabinet secretary to have got involved, particularly before the matter was even discussed by the council.

Senior councillor Donald John MacSween told The Herald yesterday: "It is clear she has driven a coach and horses through her department's own guidelines on school closure procedures."

A Scottish Government spokesperson insisted the minister had not intervened.

She had only corrected the idea that the Curriculum for Excellence necessitated the closure of the two-year secondary schools. That was not the case.

There is considerable parental opposition to the closure plans, but council officials said they were necessary because of falling school rolls, the physical deterioration of schools and a ￡2m shortfall in the council's PPP school-building project.