 The council says claims of social bias is 'nonsense' |
The chairman of governors at a school threatened with closure has accused Swansea council of social bias and said the school was a "soft target". Proposals to reorganise education in the city, which could affect Dylan Thomas Community school, are discussed by the council cabinet on Thursday.
Falling pupil numbers have been blamed but parents believe it has been chosen because it serves a more deprived area.
The council said its decision would be made on educational grounds only.
The school in Cockett has around 1,500 in its catchment area but only attracts around 550 pupils.
Many of them are from the Townhill housing estate, one of Wales' most deprived areas, and around half of them have special educational needs.
If the school was to close, pupils would have to travel to Bishop Gore Comprehensive in the more affluent Sketty area and next to Singleton Park, which will not be shut down although it too has falling pupil numbers.
The chairman of governors at Dylan Thomas, Dereck Roberts, has accused the local authority of social bias.
He said: "They see it as a soft target because of the position of the school and the community it serves and the background of the kids.
"It's a classic example of what's happened in Swansea over the years. The west becomes more affluent at the expense of the east. And it's just reinforcing it time and time again.
"It's one of the things the council said it has got to address, well it's not addressing that issue by proposing to close the school."
A recent report by the Welsh schools inspection body, Estyn, said Dylan Thomas secondary was improving rapidly and progress was evident despite significant challenges.
'Empty desks'
Parent governor Robin Lowe is leading the action campaign against the closure and claimed it was about the relative value of the two locations.
He said: "It's about money, what we can get for the site. The site at Bishop Gore is virtually worthless. It's part of the Singleton estate. There are covenants on the land.
"On the Dylan Thomas site, the council have bought up any restrictve convants. This development has been on the cards for some time."
Education cabinet member Mike Day said the local authority's decision would only be based on educational grounds.
He said: "Money is going into servicing surplus spaces. We want to see money being directed towards pupils' needs rather than servicing empty desks."
Meanwhile, in Powys, councillors are to discuss a report which said 40 schools were only three-quarters full. Education managers want to cut that to 15 schools with no more than 15% spare capacity by the year 2008.
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They see it as a soft target because of the position of the school and the community it serves and the background of the kids
