PLANS to scrap a controversial merger between two Sheffield secondaries have produced an angry backlash - from parents keen to see the scheme go ahead.
The proposal to shut Wisewood and Myers Grove schools and build a new £20 million replacement on the Myers site were dropped following a knife-edge vote when the Lib Dems and Greens came together to defeat the scheme.
Council officers must now com
e up with an alternative.
Until now the most vocal parents were the Wisewood ones who led a vociferous campaign to see the merger scrapped.
But now parents from Myers Grove have spoken out - and they are furious the merger has been abandoned.
Dozens of Myers Grove parents packed into an angry meeting of the full council where they jeered at the Lib Dems from the public gallery.
The parents said they were “incensed” and it was “despicable” that the opposition parties had blocked the merger.
Parent Sue Stephenson said: “We took part in the consultation meetings and we never shouted or interrupted. We put our views forward in a quiet manner but that doesn’t mean we can be ignored.
“We have a petition with 508 signatures in favour of the new school because the current 1960s building cannot meet the diverse needs of our children.”
Labour’s Cabinet member for children’s services Coun Harry Harpham said: “The sensible, silent majority of parents are now turning up the volume and saying what Labour has been saying for months.
“I agree 100 per cent with parents but it’s the Lib Dems and Greens who said there should not be a new school.”
Conservative councillor Anne Smith, who backed Labour’s plans for the merger, said: “The Lib Dems have pitted one community against the other and have been absolutely ruthless. They have sold children down the river but they will not triumph.”
Lib Dem Leader Coun Paul Scriven refused to let the Lib Dem education spokesman Coun Sylvia Anginotti address the meeting and instead spoke himself.
He said: “We have looked at examples where schools work together in federation with the local community and in Cambridge schools with only 500 places have been allowed to build new facilities.
“I absolutely guarantee we are committed to working with you to provide a new school and if the Government turns us down financially we will use the resources that the council has.”
But parents said they didn’t want Myers to be refurbished, they wanted a brand new school. And they demanded to know where the Lib Dems would get the money to keep two separate schools open.
Parents are planning their next public meeting on the issue at Myers Grove School next Monday at 7pm.
The full article contains 457 words and appears in Sheffield Star newspaper.
